


Daniel's Story

by bushie1313



Series: Daniel's Story [1]
Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Gen, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-05
Updated: 2020-03-07
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:28:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 47
Words: 106,942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22121818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bushie1313/pseuds/bushie1313
Summary: If Nick and Judy could have kits, then our story begins.
Relationships: Family - Relationship
Series: Daniel's Story [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1749124
Comments: 31
Kudos: 13





	1. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To all who have read this the first time, I thank you. I have gone back and redone my spelling and punctuation on this story thank you again for reading it. It will take me some time to do this so please bear with me.

It was a strange night for Jerry. Full of old memories and longings. Jerry was a 55-year old bloodhound with lots of memories. But with this kind of job a mammal had lots of time to think. Jerry Rathbone or JR as his friend called him was night security at the Zootopia Reproductive Centre. Every night going on 5 years now Jerry had walked the 10 floors of this building. He worked a 12-hour shift and had to make at least 6 rounds of the building’s floors. Most of the time he made about nine rounds unless his leg was acting up. He always rode the elevator to the top floor making the rounds of the floors and alternating either the east or west stairwell down to the floor below.

JR had been a beat cop for 35 years with precinct 2 in Zootopia. He was very good at his job, everyone in the neighborhood knew and loved him. In those 35 years, he only had to draw his service weapon twice with no fatalities. He had been shot at many times, but always managed to survive.

"Medical discharge," the paperwork said. This was why, after all the time on the force he was let go. One bullet shattered his left femur and his leg was never the same. Oh, he did all the things the rehab people had him do, but still, he could not pass the physical.

They threw him a party, gave him a gold watch, and wished him well in his retirement. After all the years on the force, It didn't seem like nearly enough. JR never saw himself doing another job. But after his wife died, he had to much time on his hands, and just sitting around the house, was too much.

JR thought he would spend his golden years with his wife Bessy. They were happy for a few years, but then his wife started to complain of headaches. The headaches got worse, till one day he found her passed out on the floor. He called for an ambulance but by then it was too late. His wife died on the way to the hospital. Brain tumor was the diagnosis.

At this point, Jerry lost it. The next couple of months went buy in an alcoholic blur. And he was so tired, he just wanted to die. One night he pulled out his service revolver, loaded it, and looking at it, passed out, a vision, dream? Came to him. JR found himself flat on his back, in a strange meadow. How did this happen, am I dead? He stood up and did a 360-degree-turn taking in his surroundings. IT was beautiful here, so peaceful and calm. And he felt loved, no, this place was love.

"What do you think you are doing you old fool"? As he turned around there stood his wife, who had left him. "Bessy"? He called. He ran to her with tears in his eyes. "Who else would call you an old fool"? "Oh god I miss you, how could you leave me"? Said Jerry. "I didn't leave you it was just my time". "Do you know how lost I am without you"? "Yes, Jerry I know, but you are better than this,” suicide Jerry” really? People still need you it's not your time yet". Jerry fell to his knees and cried. "But how can I go on"? "Get out Jerry, look at all the people you helped, they are there for you if you let them, You Do Not have to be alone". "Will you wait for me, Bessy"? "Yes, Jerry I will be waiting for you when your time comes, until then will you live for me"? Asked Bessy. "Yes, darling, I will just for you". And in his vision? dream? they kissed with all the love they had for each other.

JR woke up the next morning, with the mother of all hangovers and a vaguely recalled dream. The pain in JR’s heart was manageable this morning, but the sight of his service revolver in his paw scared him. What had he almost done? He unloaded and locked away the gun. He then took stock of his situation and as much as he wanted another drink, he swore never again, he would live for the people of his community, his friends, and what family he had left. It took 4 months to show that he cared about life again, and his friends, which he found he had plenty of, started to come around again. Life wasn’t great but it was bearable. After a while he found himself starting to backslide, so to lift his mood he figured he had to find a job. One that would keep him busy enough so he didn’t dwell on what he had lost.

Charlie a lion, and an old friend, suggested night security at the place where he worked, the kid he worked with just wasn't doing the job properly. He applied and was excepted. The company loved the fact that he was ex ZPD, and was licensed to carry a lethal and non-lethal weapon. The work wasn’t that hard, just a lot of walking, checking doors, and reporting anything usual. His leg didn’t have the strength for a beat cop, but straight walking, he could do that.

\-------------------

As JR came down to the fifth floor, he could hear the machinery in the lab running but could smell no one. He reached for his radio. "Charlie come in"! "Charlie here, what's up JR"? "Did anyone come in for late night work"? "No JR, no one signed in". "Copy, lab machinery running, going to investigate", "Roger be careful". JR carefully opened the door to the lab, found no one inside, and the robotic arm making lazy circles. "Charlie come in"! "what did you find JR"? "Looks like a computer malfunction, arm is making lazy circles again". "What"? "Third time this month, writing a report now". "Roger, continuing rounds, be down in about 20 minutes". "10-4 see you then".

\--------------------

It was just another routine Friday shift, boring as heck. About 3 AM JR was on his seventh round, when coming onto the fifth floor he could smell something, Scent mask? No sooner had this thought entered his mind than a tranq went through his ear and into his neck. JR lost the ability to stand and hit the floor hard. He heard running paw falls, and saw something out of the corner of his eye, fleeing down the hall, and then it went silent.

JR never really was tranqued as the dart passed through his ear and into his collar, but was stopped by the heavily starched collars he wore. But as it went through his ear, the paralytic agent was released into his system, this lasts for only about 15 seconds which is usually long enough for the sedative to kick in. The sedative was ejected onto his neck, and skin absorption takes a lot longer to get into the bloodstream. As he lay there, he could hear a beeping from the lab.

JR was eventually able to get up and stumble to the lab door. Looking in JR saw what looked like two 45-gallon plastic drums with a timer on top. JR read the time left 3:20 seconds. His adrenaline kicked in and negated the effects of the sedative. JR flew down the stairs, he was no hero but didn’t want to die either. When he hit the lobby, he pulled the fire alarm and saw Charlie slumped over the security monitors, dart sticking out of his neck. Words were scrawled on the wall behind Charlie, **NO HYBRIDS PURITY IN NUMBERS.** JR grabbed Charlie's chair, hit the silent alarm under the desk, and proceeded to wheel Charlie out the door. Charlie was just too big for JR to carry. As they got to the berm in front of the building, the chair fell over. Charlie hit the ground; JR then proceeded to drag Charlie to the other side of the berm. As they fell on the other side, the night sky lite up like day and the explosion deafened poor JR.

He lay there for a few seconds thinking about how close it had been. When he looked up, the building was on fire. He quickly put out the burning paper that had fallen on them. Who had done this and why? This was his last coherent thought as the sedative finally kicked in. He heard the sirens of the police and fire trucks as they finally arrived.


	2. Beginnings

I don't lay claim to Zootopia the movie or any of the characters from the movie. I have used some characters and ideas from other works of fiction, but they only play a minor supporting role in this story.

My name is Daniel J. I was born... ahh not sure when but I was born. Ouch quit hitting me, that hurts. Let me tell my story the way I want to tell it, and not just the facts. Yes, I know you have a part in this, but who's to shy to put it on paper? All right, all right, I'll stop with the bad puns. As I was saying my sibling and I were born, 18 Years ago. We appeared to be part of a secret government experiment.

Some of my earliest memories, being born by c-section, harsh smells, a brisk rub to get me crying, being cleaned up, and wrapped in a blanket. I was then laid on a belly next to a teat, and I started to suckle. How you ask can I remember all this? I just have a really good memory. There was eight of us all together, and we all shared the same mother. As our eyes opened several days later, we could see that we were two different groups of mammals. The lights in the room were bright and harsh and on all the time.

Mom was a red colored mammal, who I later would learn was a fox. She never spoke much; I don't know if this was by design or by her environment. How do I tell if she was a good mom or a bad one, I had no bases for comparison. She did look after us though, so I guess I can't complain. She hummed some tuneless (music?) and rocked us back and forth to quiet us down when we would start to cry. But I felt her sadness and hurt about what, I was never sure. 

So here we are in a big, cold, scary, bright, world.

\-----------------------

“Sir we have a problem”. “What kind of problem”? “Well four of the mammals are hybrids and four appear to be normal rabbits”. “Appear”? “Yes Sir. But they all have genetic markers in their systems that we can’t identify”. “Can’t identify”?

“About five percent of their DNA Can’t be classified as animal, vegetable, or mineral”. “Then what is it”? “We just don’t know”. “Also, Sir they all have the same blood type”. “How is this possible? They are both predator and prey”. “Their collective blood type is what we are classifying as. “O”. “why O”? “Well, Sir their blood is compatible with both pred and prey”. “Really? But that’s impossible”. “We are running tests now to try to determine if it has something to do with their strange DNA”. “Maybe it has something to do with the mother”? “We'll look into it, Sir”.

“All right then, would you say we have our test subjects”? “Yes, Sir it would appear that we have”. “Finally, some good news, as we have no more material for new test subjects”. “Then you have a green light for the tests. As we know about rabbit development, we have a baseline for comparison”. “Oh, how is the fox working out”? “Good, she took to motherhood well”. “Once she has weaned the kits; I want her sent back unless you find something”. “Yes Sir, won’t be for about a year”. “Fine just do it”. (From the archives of the institute).

\---------------


	3. in the lab

As kits, we were all kept in the same basket. Mom would come in every time we would start to cry, to feed us, change us, and just to curl up around us. We were a very needy bunch; you could say we were a bunch of basket cases. Ouch No hitting, hey, I have to put in some puns even if there bad. My story remember?

We had to learn all the normal things that kits are required to learn at this age, mostly how not to cry for everything. Gestures and other noises for things we needed or wanted. At about 4 weeks we started to walk around on all fours. Four on the floor has a nice ring to it. at this point, we were holy terrors to mom and a female rabbit. Her name was DeDe. Mom’s name I found out was Heather T. DeDe just showed up one day, very sulky and mad, but quickly warmed up to us all. At this point, we were given names by our mom.

I became Daniel-J, next was Susan-K a grey and white rabbit. At this point I should explain that our birth order was the alphabet letters, Oh, I should also say that I looked like a fox. Next was Terry-L a fox, Davis-M a fox, Ava-N a burnt umber rabbit, Ricky-O a grey and white rabbit, Cindy-P a grey and white rabbit, and last but not least Suzie-Q a grey and white rabbit, not sure if Suzie was Mom’s sense of humor.

Terry, Davis, Ava, and I were all siblings, the first clue was our coloring. We were all a burnt umber color. With black fur running from the tip of our paws to about halfway to our elbows and knees. It looked like we are wearing gloves and socks. I had a grey color that ran from under my chin, down my chest to my nether regions, rounded ears, (not pointy like a fox) feet and legs that looked like DeDe’s, and a black nose that I could twitch like a bunny. (which took me years to learn to control the twitching) Terry had cream color from under his chin down his chest to his neither region, he also had rabbit feet and legs. Of all of us, Terry looked the most like a fox.

Davis had the same grey under his chin and on his chest like me, but it extended down around his but and up the end of his tail to the very tip which was a burnt umber on the end, rounded ears like me, and again rabbit-style legs and feet. Ava was a rabbit, and had cream coloring from under her chin to her neither regions, a big fluffy rabbit tail, how big you ask? Let’s just say I don’t want to get murdered in my sleep. Also, she has fox style ears. She looked so cu… Adorable. (what is it with rabbits and the cute word).

Susan, Ricky, Cindy, and Suzie were grey rabbits (hares actually) with white running from under their chins down their chests to their neither regions, big long rabbit ears, with a small black spot in their right ears about ¾ of the way up and off to the left side a bit. And small fluffy tails, in short, they looked exactly like DeDe.

We were all quick studies, in a mere couple of weeks we learned how to walk upright, and use the bathroom. WHAT? No, I'm not going to tell the bathroom incident. You wouldn't dare! Fine when it comes time to write your part, the mirror comes into play. YES, it does, turn about is fair play. I was not going to tell the bathroom incident, because I still don’t find it all that funny.

We were all playing a game of "pounce" when our mother opened the door of the next room and barked for us to come over. (Did I mention she did not speak much) We all came running over, some of us quicker than most. I ran into the room and saw a big pool of water in the floor with a channel leading away, to a sport like cup protruding out of the floor., before I could stop, I had fallen in. I panicked and started to paddle for all I was worth. Mom fell over with yippie, barking, kind of sound, every one else was laughing as well. DeDe came into see what all the commotion was about and burst out laughing as well. I was going to die. That was when mom stood, me up in the water and I found it was only 3 inches deep. I crawled out, sopping wet, and looked at them with murder in my eyes. Which caused everyone to burst out laughing again. After a while, I could see the humor in it, but I never joined in. (There happy it’s in there).

Like I was saying we learned how to use the "toilet" properly. Mom showed us how to use it, by example, and the girls caught on faster than the guys. (anatomical differences), but we guys weren’t that far behind. We learned that the sports style cup-like protrusion at one end would help guys aim better into the channel. We all still had accidents, but we soon learned when we had to go, just go in the toilet.

Shortly after this, we learned what bath night was about. You would think that I would be scared of water, "toilet incident" but no, I took to the water like a duck. I love the hot water, and bubbles, lots of bubbles. We all had fun, splashing, playing silly games in the water. By the end of the baths, there was usually more water on the floor than in the tub. Sometimes mom would join us putting more water in the tub, tell she could submerge herself, and we would all play on top of her. The fur dryers were another matter, wasn’t scared of them, just didn’t like them. Still to this day, I use them, just don’t like them.

Pretty soon mom didn't have enough milk to feed us all. Solid food was next for us to learn. I was hungry one day when DeDe came in with a plate of veggies for her lunch. She placed it on her desk, I could smell it, and thought it would taste good. When she wasn't looking, I jumped up, grabbed some, and took off running. She gave chase but gave up when I ran under the bed. Soon everyone joined me under the bed to see what I had. I learned I had celery and it tasted good.

I shared the piece with everyone, so we all got a taste. We wanted more, so we moved out as a group and stood behind DeDe. When she realized It had gotten quiet, she turned around really slow. She burst out laughing when she saw the expressions on our faces. All our ears were down, our eyes were big, and we were standing there in a slouched position. She asked if we wanted more. We all nodded yes. Still laughing, she shared the rest of her lunch with us. None of the vegetables we tried were objectionable. Let me tell you, solid food was a lot different in our bodies than milk. Let’s just say solid food is a lot harder to pass than milk. We also learned to drink the juices given us, even if we didn’t like them. They tried to get us to eat meat or bugs, but none of use would touch them. Mom ate them, but that just seemed revolting to us.

One day they separated me from the rest of my littermates and putting me in a clear box tried to get me to eat meat and bugs. This went on for a few days, and I was getting weaker and weaker and hungrier with each passing hour. My littermates were getting more distressed as time went on. The bugs and meat just smelt bad to me, and I would not touch them, no matter how hungry I got. They finally relented and gave me a carrot to eat, it was the best darn carrot I had ever tasted. Terry and Davis got the same treatment, but the results were the same as mine. (why were the three of us singled out?) From that point on the bugs and meat were off the menu. (Good Riddance). Shortly after we were on solid food, mom disappeared.

\----------

“So how did the experiment go”? “Badly sir, We nearly lost J. He refused to touch the protein”! “What about L and M”? “We didn’t let it go as far, but the results were the same, Sir”. “And no one would touch protein”? “Oh, they touch protein, just vegetable protein”. “And how is there blood work”? “They all appear to be getting the proper nutrients from vegetables”. “And how is their education going”?

“Good Sir, as you know they are 8 months old, and cognitive skills and motor skills are at an 18-month-old level. Body size they are average for their age”. “That's impressive. Are all the subjects at this level”?

“Yes Sir, Even the bunnies are working at this level”. “Do we have a reason for this growth”? “No Sir, we still think it's their strange DNA”. “Does it have anything to do with the surrogate”? “No Sir, She’s in the clear”. “Any more luck on trying to decipher the DNA”? “No Sir, we have hit a dead-end, all the tests we have run have come back inconclusive”. “Well Dam it, invent some new test, I want to find out what it is”. “Will do our best Sir”. “Are they fully on solid food now”?

“Yes Sir. Then you can take the surrogate home to the city. Make sure to give her the money we promised”. “Are you sure? We could just get rid of her”. “NO KILLING, we are not monsters”. “We got rid of those guards”. “For your information, they both survived due to someone's incompetence. And I Don't see a need to start killing now. DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR”? “Yes Sir. Good, then take her home and give her the money. If I find out she is dead, you will follow her shortly after, do I make myself clear”? “Yes Sir”. (from the archive of the institute.)

\---------


	4. the escape

When we felt mom was not coming back, we were inconsolable. We cried and carried on for days, eventually refusing to eat. DeDe tried everything she could think of to get us to eat, calm down, and stop crying, but nothing worked.

\----------

“Sir, we have a problem”. “Another one”? “Yes Sir, the kits won’t eat now that red is gone. We need to get her back, for the kit’s sake”. “Is that necessary”? “I believe so, we could force-feed them, but I don't think that will work very well”. “All right, play up to her motherly instincts, and see if she will come back”. “Thank you, Sir”. (from the archives of the institute).

\----------

After about a 5 days mom came back. But at this point, we were too weak to celebrate. Mom scolded us and made us eat so we would get better. I noticed she was carrying around two fox plushies. She would never put them down, just carry, and stroke them constantly. The only time anyone saw her put them down was when she went for a bath. The guards in the building would ask her to show the dolls when she left us. After a while, they stopped asking, because she would just shove them in their faces to prove they were just dolls.

So, life continued as before, white coats would come in and poke and prod us all, then take blood and leave. Sometimes they would take us down the hall to a place with the word “LAB” on it. Different types of experiments were conducted in this room. Some hurt, some didn't, but we could all feel the distress of the others when things hurt.

We also learned to talk with words around them. But by ourselves, we did not need words. How to explain, we had our own form of nonverbal communication. We just spoke in our minds with pictures, and emotions. I’m sure they noticed this, but if asked we would deny it. We just seemed to know what the other one needed and acted accordingly. There was no fighting, as no one wanted to feel the pain that this caused. Emotions speak louder than words and hurt a lot more.

And we learned all that they taught us. We soaked up knowledge like sponges but didn't show this as we felt their animosity towards us. Yes, we could feel the mood of other people, some were happy moods, some were down moods, and some were so dark that at times it just scared us.

By the time of our first birthday, we had also paired up. Susan and I hung out together, Terry and Cindy hung together, Davis and Suzie hung together, and Rick and Ava hung together. But we all still played with each other. We all still slept in one big pile, but our pairings (or mates if you will. More on this later) slept next to us.

May 25 was our birthday according to DeDe. She gave us all a small piece of carrot cake, I think she came to regret that day, as we had never had sugar before. We were bouncing off the walls for about four hours, and when we crashed, it was hard, DeDe just picked us up where we fell and put us into a big pile in the middle of the bed. What do you call a hybrid hopped up on sugar? Super Hi Brid active. I told you, my story remember?

For another three months, things went along without a hitch, we kept hiding what we could, and showing some progress when we couldn't. Everything changed the night of the big storm and blackout.

Mother was with us when the power flickered and went out. She knew all the door locks were controlled by electricity, so none of the doors were locked at this moment. I don’t know if this was what she was waiting for, but she took the opportunity. She took one of the dolls and put it into the middle of us, and pulled me out. I wanted to cry but she shushed me.

She then ran from the room with me, grabbing a bag that was outside the door, she ran down the hall past the guards and out the door into the storm. I have never been more scared than that night in the storm. I was cold, wet, and when thunder happened, I jumped and screamed with it. I buried my face in mom's chest and kept my eyes closed, but still saw the flashes of light. Mom held me tight, and I clung as tightly to her as I could. Did she run through a forest? going where I knew not. Eventually, she found a log to crawl under, to wait out the storm.

\----------

“Where’s that damn back up generator”? “Power surge blew the relays, should have them reset in about 30 sec. The generator should come online at that point”. “Stan, go check on the hybrids”. “Roger, checking now”. “All test subjects appear to be in a pile in the middle of the bed. DeDe is with them. What the… Sir, we have a problem, one of the hybrids is missing, a doll appears to be in his place”.

/“Which one”? “J” Sir, subject “J” appears to be missing. Red, appears to be gone too”. “Find them, damn it, I don’t care what it takes just find them”. (from the archives of the institute).

\----------


	5. on the land

I woke up the next morning. Having never seen day or night, I was told by mom that this was morning. I heard strange noises and had strange smells coming to my nose, which was twitching furiously. We walked most of the first week, through the forest. Occasionally I would grab some greenery and try to eat it, but mom stopped me most of the time. By late afternoon I was tired of walking. Mom carried me most of the day, but made me walk, in the afternoon.” Build up some stamina she said.”

I was about to fall and sleep where I stood, but mom found us a long-abandoned shack for the night. She dug bugs out of the wood, ugh horrible sound when she crunched them. And I ate some mushrooms she found outside the cabin. When the sun went down, the light disappeared, but I found I could see just as well in the dark, albeit there was no color it was just black and white.

Mom went into a c shape putting me in the middle, and then wrapping her soft and fluffy tail around the front. I felt warm for the first time all day. I talked to my sibling just before I nodded off, told them about my day, and they told me about how angry the institute was at mom for leaving with me. Susan missed me as well as I missed her. There was now a guard in the room with them at all times, it made them all nervous. They wished me well on this new adventure and would be following me as best they could. I fell asleep with their good wishes in my head.

We woke on the second day, ate some more, and moved on into the forest. I told mom what my siblings said, she laughed at what I said, but when I didn’t change what I said she began to believe me. Susan asked if they could tell DeDe what was happening, I said sure as we all trusted DeDe. Today was also a repeat of yesterday, mom carried me most of the morning, but I still had to walk in the afternoon. She found me some late berries, and other greens to eat.

Mom found some bugs under a log. Later when we stopped, I was so sore and tired, I was ready to fall over. Mom found a little pond fed by an underground stream. Let me tell you I don’t like cold water washes. I was shivering and shaking so bad my teeth were clacking together. She put the doll clothes on me and wrapped me up again. When I was warm again, I talked to my siblings. DeDe had told them they were looking for us down the highways, and to stay off them. I told them to tell DeDe we were traveling through a forest. When I told mom, she barked a laugh and said good on them. Let them chase their own tails. I told Susan I missed her, she told me that she missed me. I could feel the love? through our connection. The snorts of derision from everyone else just made me laugh. I then drifted off to sleep.

This went on for the rest of the week, and I learned not to fear the forest. It was kind of peaceful in a way. I ate all kinds of greenery, some I liked some I didn't. I was getting stronger too, I now walked most of the day alongside mom. We didn't appear to be in a hurry to get anywhere, we just moved at my pace. Finally, the forest came to an end, and we looked out on rolling hills and grasses.

It’s called a meadow, mom said. Mom got very nervous at this point, saying we could be seen. Were we hiding? I asked. Yes, she told me we were hiding from the institute, she warned me to do everything she said without fail. If she told me to be quiet, I was to be quiet. If she told me to run, I was to run and not look back. If she told me to hide, I was to hide, and not come out until it was safe to do so. I agreed to do this, as I felt safe with her. And following theses rules made me feel safe.

The meadow was like a smorgasbord to me. Different flowers and grass to eat, and I tried them all. Most of the day as we walked, I was stuffing myself with new and different flowers and plants. Mom just smiled at me and let me eat. Mom found a little hollow by a stream for us to sleep in for the night. I felt full and was ready for sleep. But I talked to my siblings, it was a little harder to do so. They passed on all the information they were taught, and I passed on what my day was like. Some felt envious at what I was doing, but no one wanted to trade places with me. They then told me the institute had deduced that we had gone into the forest and were beating the forest trying to find our hideout. I told mom this, and she got worried, not good was all she said. Pictures may have been harder, but emotions were just as strong. We said our nightly goodbye and we wished each other well. Just before I fell asleep.

The next day as we topped a hill, I could see strange buildings? In the distance. Mom said yes, they were buildings, and that was where we were headed. We walked most of the day, and the building grew larger as we got closer. She said we should be in them tomorrow. All this time in the meadow mom had nothing to eat, as there were few bugs around for her. I felt a little guilty eating my fill, but she said it was ok, she would get a good meal when we got to the city.

She found another hollow for us to sleep in for the night. The communications tonight was a little harder than yesterday but not much. They told me that they were still looking in the forest for us, but they were beginning to believe we were not there. All mom said when I told her was, "damn not good". First time I heard her swear. Our nightly well wishes were done, and I was feeling a little lonely when I felt an emotional hug from Susan. This was new and different, and I returned it as best I could. As I fell asleep, I wondered what the new day would bring.

Mom got dressed in clothes the next morning, I was still wearing the plushies clothes, I was a little ripe, but it couldn’t be helped. We entered the city late in the afternoon, it was so strange and scary for me, new sounds and smell. Mom tried to get me to stop twitching my nose as foxes couldn’t do this. Mom found an ATM? Put a plastic card in, and received some paper, out of it. She told me, this paper was money, and with money, she could get us some food. We went to a fast food place, Bugga-burger it was called, still didn't want to eat bugs. She laughed when I told her, and was told that they had vegetarian dishes as well. I had leafy greens with a ranch-style dressing, and mom had (what else) a Bug-burger and fries. I tried one of her fries and wanted the whole box. She laughed, got up, and got me an order of my own. I ate my fill and found myself nodding off at the table. She then found a cheap hotel where we would spend the night.

\----------

“Sir, we have them. She used her bank card about an hour go, West side of Zootopia”.   
“Right, I want a recovery team there in the hour”{. “Do we take her out”? “No, just bring the hybrid back, Stan”. “Are you sure”? “FOR THE LAST TIME, NO KILLING. Just get the dam hybrid, and bring him back, let her go”. (from files found at the institute.)

\----------

Something woke me up early the next morning. I shook mom awake and told her I had a bad feeling. She grabbed me and the plushie, and leaving her bag behind, we went out the window and down the fire escape. When she hit the ground, she started to run. I could hear paw falls behind us, when mom looked behind, two mammals were chasing us. She ran down the alley and across the street to the other alley. The mammals behind us were faster. As we got to a dark spot mom told me to hide, as she threw me under a dumpster.

She got another 20 feet when they caught her. As they tackled her to the ground, her head came down on a corner of another dumpster, not seeing the fact she had hit her head, they started shouting at her, asking where I was. At this point, red and blue lights came into the alley.

The mammals saw the lights they froze looking at the cruiser, then they started to run down the alley. When they were gone, with the cruiser in hot pursuit, I could feel that the coast was clear. Using the dumpsters as cover, I made my way to mom. Mom was gonna leave me; I could feel this. I crawled into her lap and begged her not to go, but I saw the life force slowly ebbing out of her body. When she was gone, I Screamed my hurt and pain to the world, over and over again.


	6. New beginnings

Mike Wolfson a wolf, and his partner Nina Chesterton a lioness, were on patrol on the west side of Central Square, not far from the meadowlands. It had been a slow night, with not much happening, when a red fox ran out of the alley a few blocks up, crossed the street, and went into the next alley. Two mammals also ran out of the alley and into the next, following the fox. Nina sped up and turned down the alley. Mike put the lights on, into the glare of the headlights, they could see the assault on the fox by two cheetahs. They froze looking at the cruiser and then started to run down the alley.

“ZP-33 calling dispatch over”. “Dispatch to ZP-33 come in”. “Dispatch we have a possible 10-30V at Main and Vine, southwest alley, requesting 10-64, we are in pursuit of perps, requesting back up”. “Roger ZP-33. ZP-18 do you copy”? “ZP-18 copy, ETA 1 min”. “Roger ZP-18”.

Nick and Judy had also been having an uneventful night, With Judy driving, Nick was sitting in the passenger seat staring at nothing in particular, when the call came in. Nick hit the lights and siren, Judy hit the gas and they were there in about a minute. "ZP-18 we are 10-23," said nick hanging up the microphone, “Roger ZP-18”.

“Nick, do you hear that? I've never heard anything like that before”. “Neither have I carrots, it just sets my nerves on fire”. In the headlights, they could see what appeared to be a fox on the ground with a growing pool of blood at her head. Nestled between her tail and chest was a kit, his head thrown back, and the strange sounds were coming from his throat. “Dispatch ZP-18, 10-76 at the scene”. “Roger ZP-18”. Nick and Judy got out of the car, and slowly approached the scene. Nick went to check the fox but found no pulse. Nick grabbed his shoulder mick. “Dispatch ZP-18”, “Go ahead Zp-18”, “Dispatch we have a 10-38 with a minor involved, possible kit to the deceased”. “Roger ZP-18 contacting social services now”.

When the kit became aware of them, he let out a bark and ran under the nearest dumpster. “Did he seem a little strange to you nick”? “How so carrots”? “I don’t know, he just seemed different”. Judy got down on her knees and shone the flashlight under the dumpster, looking for the kit. There in the corner of the wall and dumpster was the kit. Judy could see He was different. “Nick, I think this kit is a hybrid”. “Are you sure”? “Yes, he appears to be a fox, but he is twitching his nose like me, and his ears appear to be rounded”. “Wow, that sure is different, replied Nick”.

I looked up and saw a male fox and a female rabbit approaching me, I panicked and ran under the dumpster. I had just lost my mom and was scared. But she didn't come under the dumpster after me, instead, she turned the light on herself and showed me she was a rabbit. Rabbits could be trusted, couldn’t they? The answer came from my sibling. DeDe told Susan, to tell me, I could trust the people in blue to keep me safe. I believed that because when I relaxed a bit, all I could feel from her was love and compassion. I slowly crawled over to her, and when she picked me up, I clung to her, she soothed me, and at this point, I broke down and started crying again.

“There, there, little guy, your safe with me”. Nick came over to looked at him. “Good grief carrots, your right, he is different”. I looked at this strange fox and found the same kind of love and compassion coming from him. I thought that they must be mates. They were just that close, and they just felt so right.

About this time, Mike and Nina returned. “Did you catch them? asked Nick”. Nina hung her head, “No, they got away”. She replied. Mike and Nina then secured the scene. And waited for the ambulance, which had just arrived. The ambulance attendants checked out the fox but they could tell she was gone. Forensics arrived, and the ambulance attendants had to wait for them to finish. They then approached me, to check me out. I grabbed onto Judy with a death grip and refuse to let them near me. I screamed again, and Judy’s ears went down trying to block out the sound. She tried to calm me, but all I could see were white coats. Judy and Nick apologized to the attendants, but the attendants said they understood and walked back to the scene. When forensics was finished, the attendants picked up the female fox and loaded her into the ambulance.

Nick and Judy went back to their cruiser and sat down waiting for social services. Judy got me to calm down enough that I became aware of my surroundings. “Judy, look at his feet", Exclaimed Nick. "they’re bunny feet”. “Your right Nick”. At this point, Judy looked at Nick with tears in her eyes. “Come on fluff, what’s with the tears”? “Oh Nick, If I imagine what our kits would have looked like, this is one of the combinations I see”. She then turned to me and asked, “do you have a name, little guy”? “Danyo-J” I replied. “Do you mean Daniel-J”? I shook my head yes.

About an hour later a harried sheep approached Nick and Judy's cruiser. “Do you know what time it is”? “Yes ma’am, it’s about six- AM”. “I don’t have time for this, just give me the kit and I will take him to an orphanage”. At this point Judy's hackles rose at the uncaring attitude of the social worker, her mind started to work trying to think of another way, and it came to her. She looked over at Nick and could tell by his face he felt the same. He gave her a small nod yes.

“Miss”…? Nick said. “That’s Mis Downy”. “Right Mis Downy would I be safe to assume that he could be fostered”? “He could if someone wanted to foster foxes, but there are no foster families wanting foxes at the moment”. “I believe that we know I couple who would”. “Really? Can you contact them”? “No need there right here”. Nick and Judy both pulled their foster cards out of there wallets. To say she was shocked, was a bit of an understatement. “But you are a fox and a rabbit”! “We also have been married for two years now”. “To each other”??? “Yes ma’am, replied Nick”. She thought about all the paperwork she would have to fill out, for the orphanage, and at the office, and decided it was too much, and decided to let the head office decide what to do. After all who wants a fox kit? “All right, contact the social services office in the morning, officers”? “Nick and Judy Wilde”, replied Nick. She wrote down their names and stormed off in a huff. “ZP-18 to Dispatch”. “Dispatch to ZP-18, go ahead”. “Dispatch we are 10-35 and coming back to the station”. “Did something happen”? “10-4 dispatch, will discuss it when we get there, is the chief in yet”? “Roger, the chief is in already, see you when you get here”. 

“Hey Daniel, want to come with us”? Judy asked. I thought about my luck, but my sibling chimed in and told me to go with them. It felt right, so I said Yes!!

\----------

“What the hell happened in the lab tonight? It sounded like the world was coming to an end”.

“Sir, at about 4:10 all the test subjects woke up and started to scream. DeDe went to them, and they all tried to crawl into her lap, needing consoling. She eventually got them to calm down, and fall back to sleep”. “And when did red expire”? “Uhm about 4:10. How did they know”? “Are they linked to subject J”? “Unknown Sir, well find out if they are linked, we might be able to use that”.

Later… “YOU IDIOT Stan, not only did you not get the hybrid, but you made the ZPD aware that hybrids do exist. And above that, you killed the surrogate”. “It was an accident”. “HOW DUMB DO YOU THINK I AM? I’ve read the reports, I KNOW IT WAS AN ACCIDENT, but you could have handled it differently. Where is the hybrid now”? “Two police officers have him now”. “WHAT”? “Two of the responding officers have decided to foster him”. “How the hell are we going to get him back now”? He walks around the room for a bit, thinking about what to do.

“Wait, this could be an opportunity if we keep eyes on him, will it change the study parameters”? “No Sir, it might enhance them a bit”. “Enhance it”? “Yes Sir, we will be able to gauge his reactions to foreign stimuli”. “Alright, let see if we can’t get cameras into their house, sound too if possible, but the video for sure, And I want a plan worked up to get him back”. “Yes Sir”. (excerpt for the archives of the institute.)

\-----------


	7. The Precinct

When Nick and Judy arrived back at the precinct, they parked their cruiser in the underground and took the stairs to the main floor. In the main lobby, Clawhauser was just getting ready to start his day. “Morning Ben" cried Judy. "Morning spots, Said Nick”. Ben turned around to greet them when he saw me walking between them holding their paws. Ben’s paws flew to his mouth, as he let out a squeal. “Oh, my goodness, You guys make the most adorable family”. Judy’s ears blushed red, and she snapped them down behind her head. “Don’t we”, said Nick.

“And who might you be little mammal”? “Danyo-J I replied”. My nose started to twitch furiously, as I could smell the food behind the desk. At this, Ben’s paws flew back to his mouth, he also took in my ears and feet. He then put two and two together and came up with five. “Did you Guys have a child? You should have told me, I so wanted to be a godparent”. At this point, Judy's whole face turned red, and she was at a loss for words. Nick spoke up with a chuckle, “No spots, not ours, his mother was the 10-38 this morning in Central Square”. “Oh, sorry Judy, I jumped to conclusions again”. “It’s ok Ben no harm done”.

“We will be fostering him for a while though, Nick and I couldn’t stand the idea of him in an orphanage”. Ben squealed again; “you mean he is your son for now? That is just so cool you guys”. “Well it’s just until we find his next of kin”, replied Nick. “Right, right”, Said Ben a little crestfallen. “So is the chief in his office”? asked Nick. “Yes, he is, replied Ben, go on up".

“Would you mind watching Daniel for a few? Asked Nick”. Before Ben could reply, Judy leaned down and asked me if I would wait for them with Ben. I looked at Ben and saw nothing but goodness in his heart. So, I agreed to wait with him. Ben reached down for me, he then picked me up and tickled me. I let out a laugh and a giggle. Ben then offered me some of his lucky chomps, which I accepted.

Nick and Judy walked up the stairs to the second floor, and down the hall to the chief’s office. Just before they knocked on the door, they heard the word “enter”. “How could he know someone was at his door”? As they walked in, Nick plasters a grin on his face and saying, “Morning Chief, How’s our favorite buffalo this morning”? “Just for one day Wilde, could we do without all the antics?” Judy elbows Nick hard in his side, to stop his retort.

“Sir, we have a situation”. “What is it now, Wilde’s”? “Sir we seem to have picked up a kit this morning”. “Picked up a kit”? “Yes Sir, His mother was the 10-38 in Central square this morning”. “Why do you have him”? “Ahh, well you see Sir, social services were going to put him straight into an orphanage, and Nick and I couldn’t stand the thought of that, so we said we would foster him. we will have to talk to social services later today. Also, Sir, he appears to be a hybrid”.

“Why do you two always seem to find trouble? Asked Bogo. What kind of hybrid”? “Ahh Sir, he appears to be a cross between a bunny and a fox”. “When you step into it, you do it with both feet don’t you”? Judy elbows Nick hard in the ribs, again to stop his retort. “I need to see this, for myself. Where is he now”? “Clawhauser has him now Sir”. Pushing down on the intercom, “Clawhauser could you bring… (What did you say his name is”? “Daniel, Sir”.) “Daniel to my office”. “On my way Chief”. A few minutes later Ben appears with Daniel in tow.

I looked up at the biggest mammal I had ever seen, but I wasn’t scared, I could see the heart of gold this mammal had. He picked me and turning me all around, looked me over. He then put me down, and I hopped/ran to Nick and Judy. “Well your right, he does appear to be a bunny, fox hybrid. I want you to take him down to Bobby and get him to run a DNA test to make sure. Hopefully, his parents are in the system”. “The fox who was taken to mercy general could be his mother”. “Did she have any ID on her when she was found”? “No, Sir, just some fox plushie”. “Have Mike call the hospital and get them to run a DNA test on her as well.”

“Could we ask for a small favor Sir”? “What is it now Wilde’s”? Could we be excused from our shift this evening? We have a lot of places to go and things to do today, concerning Daniel and social services”. The Chief puts his right hoof to his forehead and rubs his temple. “All right, but you will have to make that shift up sometime next week”. “Thank you, Sir”, replies Judy as they all but run out the door.

As they left Bogo’s office, Judy askes, “Nick why do you have to push the chief’s buttons”? “What Carrots, old buffalo butt, just love's it. It's the one bright spot in his day, besides if I didn't do it, he would think there was something wrong with me”. Judy just snorts and lightly punches his arm. They continue walking down the hall to the elevator and take it to sub-basement 1, the lab is down the hall at the end. As we walked, the light banter between these two mammals was something I had never seen. I could tell they loved each other. As we got closer to the door at the end of the hall, I could read the word on the door, “LAB”.

I started to panic at this point; they had brought me back! I tried to get away but Nick’s grip on my arm was too strong. He then picked me up, and held me close, trying to comfort me. “What is so wrong little guy? No one here will hurt you”. I could feel his concern and love but it was the LAB. I screamed out my fear, “WHITE COATS”! The door flew open at the end of the hall, and a white coat came out. “What’s happening out here?” Cried Hofmeyr the bobcat lab tech. When he saw that it was a kit crying, he did the strangest thing, he started to purr.

Well, that got my attention, I had never heard anything like it. He then proceeded to take off his white coat and lay it on the floor. Then he got on his back, and waved his paws in the air, kneading the air too. He was purring the whole time. Well, I could see that he was nothing like any of the white coat I had ever seen, He was funny. I couldn’t help myself, I started to laugh. Soon everyone was laughing at the antics of the bobcat. He wound up doing tight circles in the hall, trying to catch his tail, which being as short as it was, he could never possibly catch. Still purring he got off the floor and stood up, picking up his coat, and headed for the open door. All this time his purring never ceased. He then motioned us forward, into the lab. I went willingly as I felt no malice from him. As the door closed, I felt the return of panic, but his purring soothed me.

“Well little one, my name is Bobby, what’s yours”? “Danyo-J” I replied. Nick and Judy were amazed at how fast Bobby could calm me down. “Daniel”, that’s a nice name, a strong name, so what brings you to my lab”? I turned around and pointed to both Nick and Judy. Everyone laughed at this, it was the first time I had ever made a joke.

Nick explained to Bobby that the chief wanted a DNA test done on me. Bobby looked at me and asked if it was ok for him to do the test. First time I had ever been asked before some test was performed on me. “Hurt”? I asked. “No doesn’t hurt, I just rub a cotton swab around the inside of your cheek”. I then shook my head yes and opened wide. As he did this, he noticed my twitching nose and my rounded ears. “Daniel, he asked, would it be possible to take a blood sample from you, you can say no, and I will respect your wishes”. I have had blood drawn before, and felt it would be ok for him to do one now. I held out my arm, and he winced at all the old needle marks on my arm. Judy and Nick both noticed this as well. He drew the blood and told me I was a brave kit. He then asked if he could do a full-body exam. “I didn’t know you were a doctor Bob”? Said Nick. “Well yes, I am, it’s a long story, and I just got tired of all the BS. A lawsuit came down the pipe, and the hospital just fired me. they treated me as if I was going to eat someone because I am a predator. The lab is nice and quiet, the only time I get criticism is if I can't find the answers being sought”.

The exam went well, Bobby asked for my permission every time, and explained everything he was doing. I felt I could trust him, and by the end, I even gave him a little hug. I'll walk you guys out", said Bobby.

When we got to the lobby, he asked Clawhauser if he could watch me, and asked me if I could stay with Clawhauser while he talked with Nick and Judy. Both of us agreed to this. They walked away; I got a little scared thinking I had been abandoned. Clawhauser noticed this. “It's ok Daniel, they'll be back, they just wanted to talk about grown-up things”. He then explained how the radio worked and what his job was. He offered me a doughnut. Never having had one before, I didn’t know what to expect. This round cake circle with sugar on top was thrust into my paws. After the first bite, I couldn’t stuff it into my muzzle fast enough. Crumbs went everywhere. Clawhauser was laughing so hard he fell over, which got me laughing at him. Officers gave us knowing grins and shook their heads as if to say, Look at the kits.

When Nick, Judy, and Bobby got to the conference room, they went in and closed the door. Bobby then turned to them and spoke. “I guess you figured out he is a hybrid, and he is a fox and rabbit hybrid". Both Nick and Judy nodded yes, "he also has been experimented on, the needle tracks on his arms, yes, he had some on the other arm, and his reaction to my tests and examination tell me, this is nothing new to him”. “Are you sure”? “Well his first reaction to seeing me, well not me but my coat said he was scared of me and the word lab, so yes, I believe he has been experimented on". “How did you get him to calm down so quickly"?

Bobby just gave a small smile. “Phycology 101, If you have a fear of something the more you know about it, the lower the fear and anxiety about that object. In my case I showed Daniel that I was not my coat, I was a person, and once he saw me as a person that cared, the coat became a non-issue. But I would bet that what you are seeing is not all of him. He is smarter than he lets on. Based on my exam, His physical age is about 16 months, but his mental age I would place at about a 6-year-old, I believe that he is hiding his potential for his protection, Not sure why”. “6-Year old, doc”? “Yes, his comprehension of what was happening to him was at least a 6-year old level”. “Thanks, Bobby, will you let us know when you get the results back”? “Sure will. Oh, and Wilde? If you show one frame of that video you took, I will make your life a living hell. That was for Daniel's benefit, not yours, do you understand”? “What it’s just a harmless video”. “Nick, remember this, a physician, knows how a body is put together, and how to take it apart, painfully I might add, do I make myself clear”? Nick gulps, and pulling out his phone, deletes the video.

By the time Nick and Judy got back to the lobby, pandemonium had broken out. Daniel was running all over the lobby, bouncing off the walls and furniture, with Clawhauser in hot pursuit. Some officers were leaning on the walls laughing their heads off. Others had given up trying to stand and were just laying on the floor laughing. Chief Bogo came out of his office and stood there taking it all in. A genuine smile had touched his lips before he had to break it up.

“DANIEL” he shouts, this stops me dead in my tracks. Clawhauser then manages to grab me from behind. Nick and Judy come running up to take charge of me. They noticed the sugar residue on my lips. “Clawhauser, did you give him a donut”? “It was only one”, replied Clawhauser. “Clawhauser, get this lobby put to rights, Wilde’s, get out of the precinct before I change my mind”. “Yes, Sir, Right away”, Sir. Bogo turns back to his office with a big grin on his face, as Nick and Judy leave the building.


	8. Social services

“So, asked Judy. What’s next”? “I don’t know about you fluff, but I could use a breakfast”. “Sounds good to me as well, where to”? “I believe Molly’s is open”. At his point, I was feeling a little off, and getting worse. “Sick”! I said, Nick set me down, and I immediately started to throw up. After I was finished, Judy handed me a hankie to wipe my muzzle off. “Felling better Daniel”? Asked Judy. I said yes, but I was just tired. Nick just picked me up again, and carried me, as they walked to the diner. I was asleep before we got to the diner. They took a booth in the back Nick placed me on the seat cushion beside him. The waitress saw me sleeping there, and just smiled and asked what they wanted for breakfast. They placed their order.

“Nick, are you sure we’re doing the right thing”? Asked Judy. “Well, replied Nick, is it the smart thing to do? No, No, it’s not. But is it the right thing to do? Yes, a big resounding yes”. Nick could see the tension just run out of Judy. She reached across the table to take his paw in hers, “I love you, Nick. Remember all the trouble we had in the past? Hopefully, they don't do the same this time”. “I don't think they will this time fluff, I just have a good feeling this time”. “I hope your right this time Nick, I hope your right”. After breakfast, when asked, both said it was good, and no, they needed nothing else thank you. They got up, picked me up, paid the bill, and left the diner. As the office of social services was 5 blocks away, they just decided to walk.

As they walked into the offices of social services, I began to wake up. They asked to see a social worker, about the possibility of fostering me. “Where did you find him”? “He was at a crime scene this morning in Central square”. “Oh, you must Nick and Judy, we have been waiting for you, we were about to call the precinct to see where you were at. If you could wait over there, Irene should be with you shortly”. We sat down to wait were indicated. I was still feeling a little groggy, but a whole lot better. A pronghorn came into the waiting room, and looking all around, spotted us. she walked over and introduced herself as Irene. “Come on back to my office”, said Irene, leading the way.

“Now, Mr. and Miss Wilde what can I do for you”? “Well Irene, Can I call you Irene”? Asked Nick. “Irene is fine". "Well, Irene, Judy, and I would like to foster little Daniel, here”. “How do know he is not a runaway”? Nick handed her the police file number from this morning. She pulled up the file on her computer and got a very disturbed look on her face. “This is just awful, there was no id with the fox”? “No ma’am, all she had was a fox plushie, and Daniel here”. I looked at Irene, and started to cry, "Mom Gone", I hollered as I buried my head in Nick's arm. Nick and Judy both tried to comfort me, oblivious to Irene, who was sitting behind her desk watching the whole scene unfold in front of her. After about five minutes they finally got me calmed down enough that they could look at Irene again. Irene had tears in her eyes and tissue to her nose.

“How have you guys never fostered before? That was the best display of parenting I have ever witnessed in this office”. Judy’s ears turned red at the praise, Nicks too, but his burnt umber coloring hides it well. “All right let's get this started. You said his name was Daniel”? “Danyo-J” I piped up. Irene laughs at this, as she typed on her computer. “Birthday sure would be helpful”, “May 25” I supplied again. “Wow, You are a smart little kit, Daniel”. Nick and Judy both hugged me. Irene saw but did not comment. “So, can I see your foster cards please”? Nick and Judy both passed their cards to her. She then takes the information off the cards, and typing that into her computer, returned them. If you wait right here, I’ll be back in a moment.

Nick and Judy, were nervous at this point, as this is when the refusals had come the last couple of times. Irene was back in about 10 minutes with a ream of papers in her paws. “Now I need you two to sign these papers”. Nick and Judy signed were indicated and received their copies. “Now here is a clothing voucher for some clothes, and a food voucher, as we all know how much kits can eat. Also, your stipend for fostering should come to you in about 5 days. How long do you feel you might have to foster him for”? “The DNA tests take about three weeks to complete”, replied Nick. “OK", Said Irene, "we will review your case in about three weeks then. Please make an appointment for then at the main desk”. With a tear in her eye, she said, “thank you both for caring”. Both Nick and Judy were over the moon that they, a mixed species couple, had been allowed to foster me. “Well Daniel, looks like you get to come home with us”.

There was a supercenter a few blocks from Nick and Judy's home, so they went shopping there. My eyes were big and wide taking in all the strange and new things. I tried on various pieces of clothing and got a toothbrush, soap, and Bubble Bath, Lots of bubbles. As we were walking down the food aisle, Nick picked up some bug burgers, “Yuck, Won’t eat, horrible”, I said softly. “You don’t like them”? asked Nick. "Won't eat them" I said a bit too forceful. With a chuckle, he put them back in the display. The same thing happened when he went to pick up some chicken. But as we went down the veggie aisle, I wanted all of it, both Nick and Judy chuckled at this. I noticed that a lot of people stared at us, some had a bad feeling, some had good feelings, most were indifferent to us as a family. Nick paid for our items, and then we walked to my new home.

Vivian Jane Wilde had been feeling a little bit blue for some time now. Family was very important to her, a quick memory goes across her mind but she quickly quashes it. It's not like she didn't want her son and his wife in her house, she did, but she wanted more. Just the thought of grand kits was enough for her heart to flutter. When the clinic was bombed, their lives changed, they lost hope. She lost hope as well, grand kits were not in the foreseeable future, no one would help them. She felt sorry for herself, but more so for Judy. She would never get the chance to find out what motherhood was all about. "Hey ma, were home”. “Well, it's about time, you're late for lunch."


	9. Home

“Ahhh, Nick what are we going to tell your mother? It's her house after all”. “Won’t be a problem carrot, she’s been dying for grand kits”. “Well, I hope your right, don’t want to give her a heart attack”. “It’ll be fine stop worrying”. Nick sticks his key in the door, opening it. “Hey ma, were home”. “Well it’s about time, came a voice from the kitchen, you're late for lunch”. “I know ma but we got held up this morning, we have a surprise for you.

“This had better be good Nickolas”. Paw falls could be heard coming from the kitchen down the hall. As Vivian turned the corner, she took in the mountain of bags in the foyer, “what’s all this”? she asked. I came around from behind the bags. Her paws flew to her muzzle in surprise. IT WAS ANOTHER MOM; I ran as fast as I could and jumped into her arms. I nuzzled into her neck and began to make whimpering noises, and started to cry again. Vivian just held me, and let me cry. She then went and sat down in a chair in the living room. Occasionally she’d take her paw and starting from my head, stroke it down my back. Nick and Judy meanwhile, were putting the groceries away. They took my stuff and put it in the spare room, "MY ROOM".

When I had finally cried myself out, she wipes my eyes and muzzle, and asked if I was hungry, I said yes, I was. She got up and headed back for the kitchen. She sat me down in a high chair that Nick had brought up from the basement. “I can’t believe you still had this old thing in the basement mom. It was mine wasn’t it”? Asked Nick. Vivian nodded her head yes. She then dished me out a bowl of vegetable soup from the pot on the stove. Nick, Judy, Vivian all did the same and sat down at the table. “I know this is going to be quite the story", said Vivian, "so let’s save it for later this evening, shall we”? Nick and Judy both nod their heads yes, all the while continuing to eat. “You guys go get some sleep, you look like you need it, I’ll look after…” As she turned to me, Nick, Judy, and I all said "Daniel" at the same time. We all laughed. “Right, I’ll look after Daniel, You guys go sleep". "You’re an angel ma”, says Nick as he kisses the top of her head. Putting their dishes in the sink, Judy and Nick leave the room and head for their bed. Vivian turns to me and asks if I want some more, as an answer I just hold out the bowl. She laughs and fills it again.

I have now laughed more in a few hours, than all my life up to this point. This was a new feeling for me and my littermates, “Happiness” We all wanted more. They had been lurking in the back of my mind all morning, giving comments and laughing with me, crying with me, and just holding me close with their love. The feeling I received from Susan was this is quite the adventure. We all agreed with her. I start to node off in my bowl of soup. Vivian seeing this, picks me up and carried me to my room. Laying down on the bed with me, she curls around me, and I soon fall fast asleep.

When I wake up, it was dark again, and I was all alone. It took some reassuring from my sibling to quill the panic that had been rising in me, I had never slept alone before. I walked out of my bedroom door, which had been left open, and walked down the stairs towards the voices in the kitchen. "Well Daniel, Good to see you awake son.” Son, I liked the sound of that. Vivian, who had been facing the entrance to the kitchen, asked me, “hungry”? I said yes, but needed the bathroom first. Judy got up and taking my hand, leads me to the bathroom. The facilities were a little different, but I managed to use them, (without falling in) my littermates laughed at this thought of mine.

I returned to the kitchen, and Nick lifted me and put me in the high chair. I was handed I plate of stir-fried veggies, with a side dish of bugs. I nearly threw the bugs on the floor, but Vivian grabbed the dish before I could do so. “You don’t like bugs”? asked Vivian. I shuddered, and said, "I won’t eat them”. “Then how about some chicken"? "No", I said a bit forcefully, "won't eat meat either”. “Well, I do have some peanut butter how about that”? As I had never had peanut butter before, I said I would try it. She went over to the cupboard and pulled out a jar of brown gooey stuff, she put some on a slice of bread, laid it before me.

I could smell that it was good, but the first thing that happened was it stuck to the roof of my muzzle. My antics of trying to lick it off, got everyone laughing (especially my littermates who could feel my distress at having it stuck to the top of my muzzle). Once I had managed to get it off, I dug into the plate of veggies in front of me. They were different, cooked, and had some sort of flavoring with them. After I had finished them off, Vivian brought me some berries for “dessert”. I especially liked the small blue round ones.

Meanwhile, the adults continued talking.

“So that's when we came out of the conference room and saw the condition of the lobby. I have never laughed so hard in my life", said Nick. "Chief Buffalo Butt, came out of his office, and with one word, put a stop to the whole thing. Not only that but I swear I saw a smile on his face”, said Nick. “He did not”, piped in Judy. “I swear he did carrots. Oh mom, no sugar for Daniel, I don’t think his body handles it very well. We then left the precinct and had breakfast. After breakfast, we went to social services. I have never been so scared in my life”. “I didn’t realize you were scared Nick”, said Judy. “Even proposing to you fluff, was not as scary”. “Har, har You’re a regular “Rosanne Boar”. Said Judy, lightly punching his arm. “Anyway, we thought they would refuse us again, but this time things were different, the mixed couple species thing didn’t even come up. She saw how we acted with Daniel here, and Irene approved us right away. And the rest you know”.

Vivian comes over to me, and picking me out of the chair, just holds me close. “I know your life hasn’t been very good up until now Daniel, but I hope we can make it better”. “Better now”, was all I said.

“Well, who's ready for a bath”? My hand shot up, “Bubbles lots of bubbles”. Everyone laughed at this. We all head for the bathroom on the second floor. as Vivian runs the water in the tub, I get undressed, (cloths, still not used to them). this was when Vivian noticed all my differences at once. “Guys, If I didn’t know better, I would say he was your biological son”. Judy starts to cry, “we noticed this right away this morning, mom, and it hurts to know that the clinic was bombed before it could happen. Well, he is here now, even if he is not your own”. With this, she throws me in the tub. I start laughing, right away, and throw a hand full of bubbles at Vivian.

I then dive under the water and come up in the biggest patch of bubbles. I held my arms at a 45-degree angle with my paws facing forward going, Rowwr. Everyone laughs at this (ha, another joke) “Oh no, the dreaded bubble monster, what shall we do”? Vivian knows just what to do, she throws some water on me to wash the bubbles off. I collapse as if she had just mortally wounded me. We continue to have fun in the tub until the water turns cold. Judy then pulls me out of the tub and proceeds to dry me off with a towel. I had never been dried with a towel before, and a happy chirr escaped my throat. Judy and ever one else look at me in shock. “Well I guess that should have been expected”, remarks Judy. I give her a puzzled look. “Daniel, the sound you made, is usually made by contented bunnies". “Bad,"? I ask. "No Daniel, we just were not expecting it. You chirr all you like”. She then finished drying and dressing me (again different cloths for night time).

We then settled in the living room to watch some “TV”. They turned it on and a flickering picture emerged, I was fascinated by this, as I never have seen the likes before. I looked behind the tv, looking for the little people I could see on the front. (I could tell my littermates were also fascinated by this). Mom, dad, and Vivian just laughed at this. “This is just a moving picture”, explained Nick. He then picked up a photograph beside the coffee table and explains the difference, and how they were similar. I then sat down in front to watch.

"Back up a bit Daniel, too close may hurt your eyes, and its easier to see the whole picture from further back. So, I sat back, and it was easier to see the whole picture, I didn’t have to turn my head as much. They put it on a tv show called “Rosanne Boar”, I didn’t get all the humor, but I did get some of it, when I did get it, I laughed just as hard as the rest of the adults. We watched several different shows, “Acquittances, third stone, how I met my mate, and full houses". By the time of the last one, I was falling asleep and fell over. Vivian picked me up and took me to bed. I woke up enough, “Stay”? I asked. “I'm Not Leaving” came the reply, and she curled around me, as I fell back to sleep.

In the morning when I woke up, Vivian was still wrapped around me. I tried to wiggle out of her grasp without waking her, as I had to use the bathroom, but she still woke up. “Problem Daniel”? “Bathroom, have to go”, We got up, stretched, and used the facilities. We then went downstairs to the kitchen. Vivian then began to putter around the kitchen, getting breakfast going. I just sat in the chair watching everything, as this was all new to me. (How long would it be before everything didn’t seem new). She put some water in a machine, and some black stuff came out. Coffee, my nose told me. DeDe had drunk this stuff all the time. Vivian then put a frying pan on the stove and poured a thick liquid into it. As it cooked, this wonderful smell filled the room. She then came back to me and handed me a glass with an orange-colored liquid in it. I could smell carrots, but I couldn't see any. I then took a sip of the glass and found the carrots, it was liquid. I drank about half in one go.

“Whoa, slow down little guy, there’s more where that came from”. Shortly thereafter, Nick and Judy came into the kitchen. “Morning squirt”, said Nick as he kissed the top of my head. Judy jumped onto the chair and gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek. That felt so good.

(My littermates all decided to do this to DeDe and see if they could get the same response). The response was overwhelming, DeDe Just broke down and was crying as she hugged and kissed them all). Vivian then brought over that wonderful smell. "Pancakes," she said, as she put some margarine on it, with a maple-flavored syrup as well.

“Whoa Mom, no sugar remember”? “Oh, hush you, it’s diabetic syrup”. “Uh mom, why do you have diabetic syrup”? Vivian’s face turned red as she turned to face her son. “Uh, I’ve been borderline diabetic for about four years now”. Nick got this weird look on his face, “when were you planning on telling us, mom”? “Being diabetic’s not a death sentence you know”. “I know ma, I’m just worried that’s all”. “Don’t worry Nick, as long as I watch what I eat, I can keep it under control”. “Sorry mom, I didn’t mean to snap at you”. “It’s ok Nick, I know you are concerned, but I’m fine”. Nick came around the table and hugged his mom. "Love you mom". “Love you too, you overprotective tod”. A small chuckle escaped his muzzle as he went to sit beside Judy again.

“So, what should we do this fine Saturday”?

\---------

“Sir, it appears we will have a chance to put the cameras, and sound, in this afternoon, they appear to be going to the park”. “That’s good news”.

“What happened in the lab this morning”? “We saw through the window of their home, that when ”J” was kissed and hugged this morning, it appears all of the test subjects did the same with DeDe shortly afterward”. “Have they ever expressed affection before”? “No, Sir, this was something new”.

“So, we can assume that there is some sort of connection to “J”? “Yes Sir, there have always been hints of this connection but no real proof”. “Right, we need to explore this, try some telepathy tests”. “Sir, isn’t that a little far out there? There’s been no real proof of telepathy before”. “That’s true, but I have a feeling that we will find something”. “Very good, Sir”. (from the archive of the institute)

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	10. The park

We all got dressed for the park, Vivian wore a yellow sundress, with a floppy straw hat. Judy wore jeans and a plaid style shirt, and a floppy hat. Nick wore jeans and a white shirt with a baseball cap. I wore jeans, a green shirt, and a baseball cap. To say we were very colorful was an understatement.

We all left the house walking down the street to the park. When we got to the park, we started down one of the many trails in the park. Other families were walking in the park as well. Some we passed gave us smiles, some gave us frowns, most just left us to ourselves. It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining, birds were chirping, the wind was blowing lightly across the trail we were walking down. When we were approached by a pride of lions.

“Check out the freaks, I didn’t know that there was a circus in town”, said the leader of the pride. We tried to ignore them, but they all got in our way. “So, where’s the big top you freaks"? "Please leave us alone", replied Nick. "I will when you tell me where the tent is". "There is no tent, I'm just having a stroll with my family". "Really? This is your family? A rabbit, two foxes, and a… what is that”? I was starting to get scared at this point, I could feel the animosity building from this group. “He's a hybrid". Judy replied. "Now if you would leave us alone, I won't have to arrest you”. At this, the pride all start laughing. “Arrest us? You're going to arrest us? You and what army”? We were backed up to a big rock at this point. I was beyond scared, I was terrified.

At this point, something in me snapped, and with all the fear, hate, and loathing in me, I lashed out at the lions, “JUST LEAVE US ALONE”, I screamed. I felt like something inside of me had broken, and I fainted. I came to a few minutes later, I could see the pride was gone, but all the adults in my life looking at me with concern. “Daniel What did you do”? “I just told them to go away”. “Do you know what else you did”? “No, I did nothing else”, I felt really tired at this point. Nick then picked me up as I was too tired to walk. A look passed around them, and we started for home, I was asleep before we left the park.

When we got home, I was put to bed where I fell back asleep immediately. Vivian made some tea, and they all sat around the kitchen table. “Nick, can you make out what happened? And did you see his eyes”? Nods of agreement came from them all. “If I had to guess, I would say that Daniel, somehow, got in touch with the primal side of his brain. And I think his slitted eyes just showed us this. Nighthower shuts off the higher functions of the brain, and you see the slitted eyes, and all your left working from is the primal side, or savage side. Daniel somehow melded both parts of his brain and projected his emotions at the lions. I felt the backlash, and it was powerful, I can only imagine what the pride felt, they sure did leave in a hurry”.

“Nick, what is he”? “He’s just a scared little kit, with a gift”. “Some gift", says Judy. Vivian looks at them both, “does it change how you fell about him”? “NO”, said Judy and Nick at the same time. “Well good, because it doesn’t change how I feel about him either. So, what are we going to do about this? We’ll just have to keep him calm and try to train him in how to use it properly". "We have nothing Nick, this is all uncharted territory". "I know, but all we can do is try”. Nods of agreement then went around the table as everyone was lost in their thoughts.

When I woke up, I felt drained, but I got up and used the bathroom. I then headed for the kitchen. I could smell something really good coming from the kitchen, and I was really hungry. As I came into the kitchen, all conversation stops, this scares me a little bit. Judy comes over, hugs me, kisses me, and helps me into my chair. I started to cry, as I thought they didn’t want me anymore, “You guys hate me, don’t you”? I said. I was too emotional to read them properly. “Oh, no Daniel, we don’t hate you, we’re just a little afraid of what you can do”. “What I can do”? Nick tries to explain, “what happened today was very unusual, to say the least. And I not sure you can comprehend what I am saying, but what you did today, throwing out your emotions like that, no one else can do that”.

I thought about what I had done and started to cry again. “Sorry, I say through my tears, I didn’t want to hurt anyone. You didn’t Daniel, you told them to leave us alone, and they did”. “Are your goanna send me back to the institute”?

At this point, they all rush me and hug me, kiss me, and tell me, not in words but action and emotions, that no way were they getting rid of me. We all cried for a bit and just clung to each other. After a while, we all remembered supper. “Who wants supper"? "Me, Me”, I shout. Everyone laughs as we settle down to eating.

\----------

“What the hell happened today”? Well, Sir, they came back early from the park, we only got a few cameras into the house, and no sound, before we had to leave”. “I mean, what happened at the park”?

“Not sure what happened at the park, a pride of lions confronts them, something happened, and the pride ran away, they would not talk to us, and they looked really scared. They threatened us with violence if we didn’t leave them alone”. “They were scared of a bunny and a fox? I find that had to believe”. “Beliefs aside Sir, that’s what happened”. “Right look into it a little deeper, and try to get that pride to talk to us, bribe them if you have to”. (from the archives of the institute)

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	11. Home coming

About two and a half weeks went by, with nothing unusual happening, I play at the splash park with other kits, and at the regular park on the playground equipment. Any time I appeared agitated Vivian would pull me away, and take me to a more secluded spot to calm down.

“Chief Bogo Sir”? “What is it Claushauser”? “Bobby from the lab is on line two”. “Did I not say, no calls”? “You did Sir, but Bobby said it’s an emergency”. (how can the lab have an emergency? though Bogo) “Bogo here What’s up Bobby? Whoa slow down I can barely understand you. Really? Are you sure? No chance of cross containment? I see", Bogo puts his hoof to his temple, and starts to rub, (I'm getting to old for this). He then has a thought that puts a smile on his face. "Bobby, can you keep this quiet tell Saturday at say 10 o’clock? And could you come to my office at that time? Yes, I know it’s your day off, but I’m sure I can make it worth your wild. Ok, thanks Bobby, see you then”.

Chief Bogo then calls social services. “Good morning, could I please speak to Irene? this is Chief Bogo from precinct 1”. Irene then came on the line a few seconds later. “Good morning Irene, chief Bogo here, I have some information on the Wilde’s case. Sorry I can’t give that information over the phone, could you possibly come by on Saturday at 10 o’clock? Thank you, for your understanding, see you then”.

At roll call in the bullpen on Friday morning, “Wilde’s, I need you in my office at 10:30 tomorrow”. “But chief it’s our day off, and we were planning to take Daniel to the amusement park”. “Bring him along it concerns him too”. “Can I ask what this about? Sir”. “You may ask, but you will get your answer tomorrow”. Nick and Judy worked the whole day with trepidation, wondering if they were going to lose Daniel. With heavy hearts, they told Vivian about the possibility of losing Daniel. So, this night they spent as much time as they could with me. I noticed the change but said nothing.

The next morning, we had a special breakfast. “Daniel, you know that we love you right?” I just shook my head yes, “today we have a meeting with the chief, and” … Judy chokes up at this point. Nick takes over, “what we are trying saying is that they may take you away from us today". “Don’t want to go”, I wailed. “I know squirt, but it may be out of our hands". Vivian hugs me, "you have all my love Daniel, be a good kit”. I tell her I will. Nick, Judy, and I, then walk out the front door.

We stand outside the Chief’s door and knock. “Enter” came the reply from within. We then open the door and step into the office. Bobby from the lab is there along with Irene from social services. Nick and Judy’s hearts sink. (This can’t be good) Nick thinks to himself. Nick and Judy take the chair opposite chief Bogo putting me between them. “Before we begin, says Bobby, Irene believes you guys are great parents, did you ever try to have kits of your own”? Judy places her paw in Nick's paw and gives him a nod. “You realize this a touchy subject for Judy and I”? Everyone nods yes and Nick continues. “Shortly after we were married, we went to the Zootopia reproductive center, hoping that they might help us to have kits together. They said it would be a challenge, but they would try. We did all the tests, took all the pills, and got ready for the removal of Judy's eggs.

Everything went off without a hitch. About nineteen days after this we got a call saying they had 6 viable embryos. We were ecstatic and over the moon at this news, and started planning for the implantation procedure. But two days later, the clinic was firebombed, we were two of the first responders on the scene. We cried and excused ourselves from the scene, and the lead was given to someone else. We were devastated, to say the least, and took a week of personal days".

“I remember”, says the chief in a very quiet voice. “After this, we went around to all the other clinics, but all of them were too scared to help us. Some were concerned about being firebombed, but most would just politely ask us to leave. We tried to go the foster route, but every time we would get close, the mixed-species card would come up, and we would be refused”. With this Irene got a hard look on her face, but says nothing.

“So, what has this to do with why we are here today”? asks Nick. “Well", Bobby pipes up, "the DNA tests have come back", (at this Judy clutches Nicks paw harder) "Daniel was not related to the red fox in Central square, where she got him from, we don’t know, but his parents are in the system. We have a 95% match for the two of them. He is approximately 60% match to his father and 35% match to his mother, and 5 % percent we can’t identify, and yes, they are a fox and rabbit. Also, Daniel has a unique blood type. I’m calling it “U”, as in universal. His blood can be given to both predator or prey”. Judy and Nick both give him an incredulous look. Bobby continues, “I would like to run some more tests in the future, and write a paper, and I will keep his name and age a secret”.

“Which brings us back to why you two are here today”. Says Bogo, bringing the conversation back. With a look of utter devastation on there faces, Nick and Judy ask, “can we have time to say goodbye to Daniel? Before you take him to his parents”? “That won’t be necessary”, Says the chief. “His parents are already here”. It took a few seconds for this to sink in, and when it did, Judy’s eyes got big and wide as her paws flew to her muzzle, and her ears stood straight up, Nicks reaction was a little different he fell back in the chair, as his eyes got big and his mouth fell open his arms just hung limp at his side.

Chief Bogo has his camera out and is taking pictures, of their reaction to the news. Irene and Bobby just had shitty grins on their faces. “Oh god, Wilde, the looks on your face is priceless. This makes up for all the jokes you have pulled on me over the years. Sorry, Judy, I didn't mean to get you too”. He reaches across the desk with two file folders and tries to hand them to Judy. “These two cases appear to be related, and I want you two to look into them”. Judy takes them with shaking paws but drops the smaller of the two. When it lands on the floor, a picture falls out of it, I take one look at the picture, and say in a very loud voice, “Heather -T”. Chief Bogo chuckles, and says with a grin, “I believe your son has given you your first clue, go on enjoy the rest of your day”.

It took a while for what was said in the office, to sink in, and when it did, I blew up with happiness, my siblings did the same. Everyone else got a little down especially Susan. I wrapped her up in my happiness and love, after a bit she came around and hugged me back with her love.

Mom and dad dropped the folders on their desk and proceeded out of the precinct. Still, in a daze, they walk across the lobby. “So, what did the chief tell you”? “Sorry spots, it’s kind of awkward”. “Well, it can't be all bad, as you still have Daniel”. “Well about that, it turns out that he is our biological son”. It takes a few seconds for Claushauser to get it, but when he does, he nearly falls out of his chair. “For real? That is so cool you guys”. “We'll, see you later spots, got a few things to do today”. Judy and Nick stop outside the door of precinct-one and cling to each other asking. Are we ready for this? But both of them knew that come what may they would try to do their best. “well son, want to go home and meet grandma”?

“Mom we're back”, yells Nick. “So how did it go"? Asks Vivian as she comes into the hallway. "Oh, are they still allowing you to foster Daniel”? “We can’t foster Daniel anymore ma”. “But he’s right there, I can see him”. “Well mom the reason we can't foster Daniel anymore is, they won't allow us to foster our son”. It takes a few seconds for This to sink in, and Vivian passes out at this point. Nick grabs her before she hits the floor and puts her on the couch in the Livingroom.

After about 10 minutes Vivian wakes up mad. “Nickolas P Wilde, if this is some kind of joke, or a GOT YOU coin, I'm going to paddle your butt so black and blue, you can’t sit down for a week”. Judy just bursts out laughing at this statement. “No ma, or should I say, Grandma, this is all real”. Vivian then burst out crying. At this point, I run into the room and jump into grandma's lap. “Don’t cry grandma I’m right here”. I hug her neck, and then do something strange, I rub my muzzle down either side of Vivian’s neck. It takes her a few to realize what I had done, and then she burst out laughing. “Did he”? “He sure did ma”. She laughs all the harder for it. She then lifts me and does the same for me. Mom and dad come over, and do the same to me and grandma. We all scent mark each other. We are a family, and I am home. 

\----------

“Sir, I don’t understand what just happened”. “You have never seen a display like that before”? “No Sir, it was kind of savage”. “Well it’s not surprising You’ve not seen it before, It’s very primal. What they have done is scent mark each other. That is anyone with a nose, would be able to sniff out the fact that they are a family unit”. “Does this happen often”? “Not so much nowadays but it still happens”.

:“Now that they know what the DNA says about him, does it change the parameters of the study”? “No Sir, we are still looking at the foreign stimuli aspect”.

“And about This telepathy aspect”? “It appears that you are right Sir, they do have some kind of communication, though we don’t know if it is emotional, or just being good at reading body language. We are looking further into it. maybe some sort of military application in the future”? “Good we need to show some results to our backers. Carry on”. (from the files of the institute).

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> let me know if you like the story so far.


	12. Evidence

It's now been about two weeks since Judy and Nick found out, they now had an instant family. The adjustments in their life were big. Now they had a "son", and my adjustment was just as big. Now I had a mom, and dad, and a grandma. (still getting used to calling them that). But through it all, my littermates could see and feel everything that was happening in my new life. Some of my littermates were jealous, but when this happened, I would wrap them in my love and all would be well in a bit. Susan asked if she could think of Nick and Judy as mom and dad too. I said yes, as they had more love to give. So, from this point on, all of us thought of Nick and Judy as mom and dad, and we were contented.

We also found out that the institute was watching me. DeDe had hacked into the mainframe and found video footage and sound from the house. One camera was in the Livingroom, one in the hall, one in the kitchen, one in my room, and one in the upstairs hallway. Judy and Nick's bedroom had sound but no camera. Vivian's had sound but no camera and the bathroom was free of both sound and camera. I guess they had some semblance of decency.

She also found a file, that said testing for telepathy was to begin. After DeDe explained this to us, we were scared. They had finally figured out we had a nonverbal form of communication. We agonized over this one, and decided to sever all the communication we had during the day, and only communicate before bed. We all cried over this, as we didn’t want to be separated from each other, but in the end, we did this to protect us all. The once a day communication worked, but left us unsatisfied. When testing began, they were very disappointed when no one reacted to another’s pain. Yes, they hurt my littermates, as pain is the strongest emotion after to anger. They watched me, but I didn't react either. After a bit, the testing stopped, and we were in the clear, but smoldering hate began to blossom in our mind.

“Nick, I found her”! Exclaimed Judy. “Found Who”? asked Nick, as he came over to her desk. Judy turned the screen to show him. There was a picture and a name on the file. "Heather Thomas," said the report, reported missing just over two years ago. “Wow, how did you find her”? “Good old fashion detective work replied Judy”. “Har, har, Mis, I can find anything”, Joked Nick. “Well it was kind of hard, I was checking the missing person reports for the 6 months after the firebombing of the clinic, and she popped up”. Nick wraps his arms around his wife, as he knows how hard that must have been for her. Judy relaxes into his embrace, and reaching up, grabs his tie and pulls him down for a kiss. They kiss a little longer than necessary when a throat clearing alerts them to another's presence.

They quickly break the kiss. “Mike looks at them and asks, "You guys need a room? The file room is just down the hall”. “Har, Har, is everyone a comedian today”? Asks Judy. “No, just a few select ones, today”. Replies Mike. “So, what do we owe the pleasure of your company”? “Not much just here to give you the rest of the clinic’s files”, he says as he plunks down an even bigger file on their desk. “You would not believe how hard it was to find them, someone had misfiled”. “Right, thanks Mike”, Says Nick. “Right, you sure you guys don’t need a room”? Mike chuckles and ducks two paper missiles as he leaves the room.

“Nick it says in the file that her mother reported her missing twice. Two and a half years ago, and Then again, four and a half months ago”. “Wow, that’s some kind of strange. Shall we go talk to her”? “Yes, but I’m not looking forward to telling her mom she’s dead”. Both of them get a little down over this, but this does not stop them from doing their job.

They go to the address on file for Heather’s mom. As they walk up to the door, it opens, and in the door appears a red fox about Vivian’s age. She looks at the two officers and starts to cry. “She’s dead, isn’t she”? “Miss Thomas, may we come in”? Martha Thomas moves out of the doorway, going to the living room, and sitting down, and breaks down into heart-wrenching sobs. Judy shows Martha a photo, “Is this her”? Martha nods her head yes and cries even harder. Judy sits next to Martha, and comforts her as best she can. Eventually, Martha calms down enough for Judy to explain. “Yes, Miss Thomas, she died about four weeks ago”. “Can you tell me how she died? Or is it still under investigation”?. “What we can tell you, was there was an altercation in an alley in Central square, and your daughter died protecting a kit”. “A kit? She had a Kit”? “Ah No, the kit was not biologically hers”.

“Can you tell us why you reported her missing twice”? Martha, drying her eyes begins to explain. “Well my daughter Heather, was on the autistic spectrum, didn't speak much, and kept to herself most of the time. She was a kind of girl scout, she loved the outdoors, and had an unerring sense of direction. If you dropped her in the forest or on some street, she could not only find her way out or back but would come out where you were standing. She just seemed to know. The first time she went missing, she said something about making a lot of money. I didn't know what she was talking about, and when I questioned her, she clammed up and refused to speak on the subject any more”.

“Then she was gone, I waited 4 months before I reported her missing. When she came back” …. “She came back”? Questions Nick. “Yes, she came back about five months ago she had a lot of money with her”. “How much did she have”? Inquired Nick. “She had 20 thousand dollars with her. I was worried she had gotten the money illegally, but she said no, and I believed her. Well, I can say I was a little scared having that kind of money around the house, so first thing Monday morning we went to the bank, and opened a joint account”. “Joint account”? Asks Judy. “Yes, Heather had never had money of her own before, and I didn’t want her going on a shopping spree. So, as a side to the account, she had her portion set out that could be added to, and a bank card to take this money out with. This was only set at a thousand dollars, and we would both have to come into the bank to add more”. “Do you have the account number, and bank branch”? “Yes, I have it here somewhere” … She gets up, and going to the desk in the corner, retrieves a bank statement, and hands it to Judy.

“The first thing she did with the card was to buy two fox plushies from the store down the street. Seemed kind of strange to me, because she had never shown an interest in dolls before. She carried those plushies around all day and stroked then and talked to them all the time. Then one day later two mammals came to the door, asking to speak to Heather”. “Can you describe these two mammals”? “Not really, they were both cheetahs though”. Judy gives Nick a knowing look. “Then what happened”? “Well I turned my back for a moment, and when I turned back around Heather and those mammals were gone, no goodbye, no nothing”.

At this Martha breaks down again. After a few minutes of crying, Martha manages to get herself under control. “Then about 4 weeks ago, I noticed a withdrawal from the card at an ATM in Central Square”. Martha puts her paw to her muzzle as she connects the dots. She asks in a small voice, “is that when she died”? “Ah, No, replied Judy, she died the next morning”. “Has there been any activity on the card since”? “No”, states Martha. “We have another question for you, but this one may hurt”. “I’m already hurting officer, but go ahead, ask”.

“Has your daughter ever shown attraction to the opposite sex”? “NO, not that I know of, what kind of question is that”? “Well, she has a c-section scar”. “You think my daughter had kits”? “Were not sure, but we have to ask for the investigation”.

“What happened to my daughter's body”? “She was cremated about a week ago, and her ashes are at the coroner's office, here is the file number”. Judy hand her a slip of paper with the file number on it. At this Martha breaks down again, and through her tears says, “Thank you, officers, I know this can’t be easy on you”. Nick and Judy express their condolences again, as they head out the door.

As they get into the cruiser, Judy looks At Nick, “didn’t Mike state that it was two cheetahs that were responsible for her death”? “Yes, he did carrots, I wonder if it was the same ones that came to Martha’s door”? “Possibly, but this is kind of a dead-end for now”. “Right” Reply’s Judy. Then Judy’s paws fly up to her muzzle and her eyes get big. “Nick, if she had two plushies, could there be more than just Daniel”? Nick's mouth drops open, as this thought had not occurred to him. “With her actions, it’s quite possible”. Both of them turn to each other and say at the same time, “We’ll have to ask Daniel”.

The rest of the morning was taken up with looking at the files from the clinic. “These files are very fragmented”, says Nick. “Well, what do you expect, they were blown up after all”. “Right any witnesses we can question”? “Well there were two security guards, that survived the blast, but one has since died. The other one is still alive, we could go question him”, “beats reading these fragmented files”.

Judy and Nick jump into their cruiser and head for the address of the one remaining witness. When they get there, they knock on the door. They hear some shuffling paw pads come to the door, when it opens, a very old bloodhound appears. “Can I help…Your Judy Hopps, first bunny cop, aren’t you”? “Well yes, I am, but it’s Wilde now”. “Don’t tell me you married this scruffy, old, conniving, lowlife mammal, and a fox too”? At this, Judy was getting very angry with what JR was saying. To calm things down, Nick steps in, “now JR you know, I was never scruffy”. JR lets out a barking laugh, “Come on in you two”. As JR shuffles into his Livingroom, Judy looks at Nick, “What, I know everyone”, says Nick. When they get to the Livingroom, Nick embraces JR in a hug. “Judy, I’d like you to meet Jerry Rathbone, the only cop who got close to pinning something on me. This old dog chased me around tundra town for years trying to pin something on me”. “Well I tried, but to be fair you were very good Nickolas”. “He’s the reason I left Mr. Big’s service”.

“Well that, and the skunk butt rug incident” Say’s JR with a laugh. “God, has no one not heard about that”? “I believe Nickolas there are some bunnies in Bunny Burrow that have not heard about it”. Judy laughs at this. “So, what brings two of ZPD finest, too my door”? “Sir, we are investigating the bombing of the fertility clinic you worked at”. Replied Judy. “Why would you be investigating that”? “Well, some new information has come to light”. “What new information”? “Well, we can't discuss this with a witness to the incident”. “Humor an old dog, officer”. “Well sir", Begins Nick "maybe, but you have to answer our questions first”. “Fair enough, reply’s JR, fire away”.

“So, you're saying that no one else was in the building before the bombing”? “I would swear that no one was, as I could smell no one”. “Wait…Jerry Rathbone, I got it, you chased down a suspected bank robber in a snowstorm”. Says Judy. JR just chuckles at this, “yes and if he had changed direction, I would have lost him, how did you know this”? “They teach this story at the academy. “Use all your senses” the sergeant major would say”. Both Judy and Nick nod their heads yes. “Well, I'm glad I could be of some use to the ZPD academy. Anyway, it was a normal night, when I was darted on the fifth floor, I had just registered something strange when I was darted”. “Strange”? “Yes, it was a scent mask, match mask I think".

“Did you see anyone after this”? “Well, yes, out of the corner of my eye, as I lay there, I saw some mammals running down the hallway. Can't say how many of them there were, but they were carrying some kind of cylinder between them”. “Wait", says Judy rifling through the file, "did it look like this”? She holds up a picture of a cylinder. “Can’t be sure, but it sure looks like it”. “Well one of these cylinders was never recovered from the crime scene, not even pieces were found of it. Judy looks at Nick as if to say, we have it. “So why wasn’t this in the original report”? “Well I kind of forgot about it, and when I remembered, they thought it was a fancy way of me explaining my incompetence. They were trying to blame someone for what happened, and I became it”. “All right JR, thanks for your time we’ll see ourselves out”.

“Wait you two, you promised to share”. “We did, didn’t we. All right JR, but no further than this room”. “As a fellow officer, I pledge this goes no further than me”. “Well JR the new evidence is something no one expected the parents of the evidence would say that it was impossible”. “What do you mean, Parents”? “Well JR this couple had gone to the clinic to see if it would be possible to have kits, and they were ecstatic when they found out they could. But before the procedure could be carried out, the clinic was bombed, their hopes were dashed at this point. No one else would even consider them at this time. Then four weeks ago, this strange kit fell into there laps. It was two weeks later they found out that they were the biological parents of this kit, and because of the bombing, he should not exist. So yes, we are sure that you saw a cryonics cylinder leave the premises that night”. “Who are the parents of this strange kit”? For an answer, Nick holds out a picture of themselves with Daniel. Nick continues, “if you look closely you can see some differences, he is a hybrid, a cross between a bunny and a fox”. “Yours”? “Yes JR, mine and Judy’s”. “Well God, I can see why you reopened the case, this is quite the evidence, cute kit too”. “Thanks, JR, We’ll see ourselves out, you take care, you old dog”. “I will, and thanks for sharing, God, this is big”.

“We now have the proof that this was a robbery disguised as a bombing”. “Yes, carrots we do, but we should look into the other angle”. “Other angle”? “If this is not a robbery, disguised as a hate crime, then it stands to reason that we should be able to find something about this Group “PURITY”. “Your right Nick. Let’s look into this other angle”

\----------

“Sir, they have reopened the case of the clinic bombing”. “Fine, they are still going to find nothing”. “But they have “J” Sir”. “So, one kit proves nothing”.

“So how did the telepathy tests go”? “Well Sir, they didn’t, there was no reacting in the subjects when we hurt one of them”. “No response at all”? “No Sir, not even subject “J”. “ Well, that’s kind of disappointing, I was sure we had something. Can they turn it off and on”? “Unknown Sir”. “All right continue with the regular tests”. “Yes Sir”. (from the files of the institute).

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	13. the Accident

Nick and Judy returned home a little early, and a little tired, “Sure was a long day eh fluff”? “Just glad to be home”, “you said it carrots”. “Hey guys, Glad to see you home, supper won’t be ready for about an hour, you have time for a walk if you like”, says Vivian from the kitchen. I run in, “Mom, Dad”, I yell as I hug them both. “What do you think Squirt, want to go for a walk”? “YES”, I reply. I run to the closet, and get my “walking Jacket”. Now let me explain, we had been having bad movie nights for a while, and several of the movies had been old cop shows, With all the stereotypical clichés, and costumes. As mom and dad were still in uniform, my walking jacket was horizontal bars of white and black.

When we walked out the door, mom would put one paw on my shoulder, and I would walk slouched over with my paws behind my back. As we walked down the street, it looked like they were walking me to jail. Most of the neighbors knew of our routine, and just laughed along with us. Mom and dad would both turn on their body cam and film the “pursuit”. For playback later. About halfway down the street, I would look up, and in as low a voice as I could,” You’ll never take me in copper”. And with that, I would take off running. Mom would be the one to chase me, as dad just slowly walked along the street. Mom and I would jump, and bounce off just about anything. Some times she would catch me before the end of the street and sometimes not. (She was faster than me) When she wouldn’t, I would run back towards dad. He would get down in a linebacker position, and try to catch me. Some times I was able to fake him out, But most of the time not. If I managed to get by, then I would let out a shriek, and put my paws in the air, as if I had just won a goal. If he caught me, however, I would get tickled to within an inch of my life.

This night Rita was on her step as I ran past with mom in hot pursuit, “You go girl catch that little hoodlum”. Rita laughed, and pointing at me “he went that away”. On most nights Rita would give me a cookie and tussle my fur when we walked past her place on our way home. I liked Rita she had a good heart.

Terry was having second thoughts about this location, it wasn't as dark, and it was in a better neighborhood. But money was money, he just hoped that the buyers would get here soon. When he saw the other car come into the alley, he flashed his lights twice, the other car flashed their lights three times. Weather It was a deal gone wrong or a rival gang doing the heist, Terry knew he was in trouble when four mammals with guns, came out from behind the dumpsters further up the alley. Terry threw his car in reverse and hit the gas. Two bullets ricocheted off the hood, two went through the rad, and one went through the windshield. Terry barreled his way out onto the street, and as he turned the car, he noticed a kit on the ground with a police officer leaning over him. “scat, Scat” thought Terry as he threw it into drive and floored it. 

Nick having witnessed it all called it in.

"911 what is your emergency"?

"Yes, a hit and run has just occurred at the 2300 block of Harris st, requesting an ambulance, civilian hurt, Perp is driving a black late-model four-door Corsialla Lic plate TER-237 Heading southbound on Harris".

"Can you stay on the line, sir"?

"where is that ambulance"?

"Sir the ambulance is on the way, please stay on the line with me. ZPD has been alerted".

Nick then runs over to his wife and son, He sees that Daniel is still breathing, and there is no blood. All he wants to do is hold him, but his police training kicks in. “do not move an accident victim, wait for the ambulance”. Nick then grabs Judy as she reaches for Daniel. Judy wraps her arms around Nick and they hold tight two each other.

The police were the first to arrive, with the ambulance a close second. The paramedics jump out with a backboard, and slip it under Daniel, then move his arm to a better position, strap him down and load him into the ambulance. Judy tries to get in as well. "Sorry, ma'am you can't ride with us". “Out of my way you Moron, I’m his mother”. The paramedic is taken aback by this, a rabbit is the mother of a fox? Nick comes over, “Judy I’ll meet you at the hospital”. Nick looks at the paramedic, “what hospital are you taking him to”? “Mercy General” was the reply. “I’ll meet you there Judy, take care of our son”. “Will do Nick”. “Love you Judy”, said Nick as the doors close, and the ambulance peels away.

The paramedic can’t believe that a fox and a rabbit were married to each other. As the ride progresses, the paramedic realizes that Daniel is different, and begins to believe. “How old is the kit”? Judy gets a little frosty. “Daniel is 17 months old”, “Natural birth”? “No, c-section”. “Does he have any allergies”? “Just to bugs and meat, he won’t eat them”. The paramedic looks down at Daniel, “well he appears to be healthy”. Judy is getting a little upset at this line of questioning, and comments. “Look I don't care what you think of Nick and I, this isn't about us but our son, and if one more species comment comes out of your mouth, I will arrest you”. Before he could say anything else, they were at the hospital.

After the ambulance had left Nick felt a little more himself knowing Daniel was being taken care of. The officers of precinct 3 were interviewing witnesses when Nick remembered his body cam. “Officers, I have a cam recording of the whole thing”. “Who did you steal that from, fox”? Nick got a bit riled at this but then went with his old standby, “never let them see they get to you”. “Well officer I didn’t steal it, it’s part of my uniform”. “A fox cop? That will be the day. Now, why don't you move along and try to hustle someone else”. “Thank you, officer…. Woolton”, “that’s officer Woolton to you fox”!

Nick pulls out his phone and dials…. “That's right sir, officer Woolton of precinct 3”. A few minutes later officer Woolton receives a phone call. The officer in question answers his phone, talks a few minutes, says a few yesses, turns white, and hands his phone to Nick. “Is this officer Wilde”? “Yes, it is Sir”. “This is chief Andihiem of precinct 3. Did you try to hand a fellow officer some evidence”? “Yes sir, I did”. “And did this officer refuse it”? “Well sir, he didn’t refuse it, he thought I was making it up”. “And was this a police issue body cam”? “Yes sir”, “and final question, are you in uniform”? “Yes sir, I just got off work an hour ago, and I haven’t changed yet”. “Thank you, officer Wilde, could you hand the phone back to officer Woolton please”? Nick hands the phone back. Woolton listens for a bit, hangs up his phone, gets in his car, and drives away.

The other officers from precinct 3, wonder what just happened. Nick is approached by another officer, “I couldn't help but overhear a bit if that conversation, you have some video evidence”? “Yes, it's right here in my body cam, if you like we can download a copy to your cruiser”. “That would be fine officer” …. “Wilde, Nick Wilde”. “Is your partner Judy Hopps”? “Actually, it’s Judy Wilde”. “Oh, my, Judy, and I went to through the academy together. So, she’s married to you”? “Yes, going on two and a half years now”. “Wow, that is so cool”. Do you guys live around here”? “Just up the street”. Nick gets a bit testy and asks if this could be moved along. “Right sorry, let us just hook this up…there we go". After a few the video comes up showing the whole scene. "Wait is that Judy”? “Yes, it is”, “why is she chasing that kit in a prisoner costume”? “Well that’s part of the game Judy and I play with our son”. “Wait, you adopted a son”? “No, he’s our biological son, and I need to get to the hospital”. At this the officers ask Nick if he needs a ride, Nick says no, and points to the cruiser down the street. He thanks the officer and heads home.

“Mom” Nick calls, “here dear, where is everyone? I heard some sirens earlier, is everything ok”? “Mom there's been an accident, Daniel got hit by a car, Judy is at the hospital with Daniel now". Her paws fly to her muzzle, "we have to go ma, grab your coat mom, were leaving now”.

So here I am having the time of my life "walking" with my parents When I hear a popping noise. I look towards the noise and noticed a black car coming at me. I am still moving forward at this point, and I know I can't stop before the car hits me. So, in a desperate measure, I jump up and push off from the fender of the car with my paws. This In turn causes me to do several backflips. On the second time around, I land flat on my back and head, my right arm hits the mailbox leg, and breaks. I don't remember the breaking part, as I had already blacked out when my head hits the sidewalk.

I woke up in a strange meadow. It was beautiful here, so calm, so peaceful, so loving. I felt like I had been here before, but where is here? “Hello Daniel”, a voice says behind me. I turn around and see the most beautiful, and graceful snow leopard. “Hello, who are you”? I have no fear of him, as all I can feel is peace. But before he can answer, I break down thinking I must be dead. “Am I dead”? I ask. He just bursts out laughing, “far from dead Daniel, and my name is Gab”. “Hello, Gab why am I here”? “Well, Daniel I live here”. “And where is here”? Here is the meadow, it is somewhere between life and dreaming, and life and the great beyond”. “What is the great beyond”? “I can’t tell you that, no one living may know. What I can tell you, is that all people when their time comes, they go to the great beyond, no exceptions, good, and bad”. “Am I dying”? “No Daniel, you are not dying. You decided to stop here on your way to dreaming”. “I decided”? “Well yes, anyone can stop here, but few remember”. “Will I remember “? “I hope so, as you need some training”.

“Above all else what do you wish to learn Daniel”? I thought back over my short life and asked for the one thing that bothered me the most. “Can you teach me how not to hurt anybody”? “That’s a tall order Daniel, as we hurt others even when we are not aware of it”. Then I thought back to what dad had said, about how I had a gift. “Can you teach me how to use my gift properly”? “And what gift is that”? “Dad said I can project my emotions; can you teach me how to control it”? “I can, but you all need to learn control”. “All of us”? “Yes, I’m referring to your littermates. What you and they can do right now is on an instinctual level, but you need it under conscious control.

What you did to the lions was like using a baseball bat to swat flies. It works, but not very efficient, and requires a lot more energy”. “And where does this energy come from”? “Mostly from you, that's why you were so tired afterward. Now, Daniel, I would like to continue this conversation, but mammals are waiting for you to wake up, and they are worried about you”. “How do I get back here”? “Just remember I told you this is halfway, just remember how it feels, and it can draw you back in”. “And my littermates”? “They will follow you if they are linked to you. Farewell for now Daniel, we will meet again”.

“Well Miss Wilde, it appears that Daniel got off lucky, he has a broken forearm, and a nasty bump on the back of his head. a slight concussion, no internal bleeding, and a few scrapes, but all in all he is in good shape. It could have been worse, but I am glad it wasn’t. We would like to keep him here, overnight for observations”. “Thanks, Doc, for all that you have done”. “Can I ask, Is Daniel your child”? “Yes, he is”. “The reason I ask is that he has some bunny attributes and some fox attributes”. “Well, that would be because his father is a fox”. “A fox”? “Daniel is a hybrid; his DNA says he’s 60% fox and 35% bunny”. “Wow, I didn’t even think it was possible. Right, we are moving him to the children’s wing in a few minutes. Immediate family members are allowed to stay with him”. “Thanks, Doc, I'll let my husband know”.

Nick and Vivian join Judy in the hospital room. Nick holds Judy close as she finally breaks down. “It’s all my fault”, cries Judy. “It’s Not your fault”, says Nick rubbing her back trying to get her calmed down. “It was just an unfortunate accident”. “Did they catch the guy”? “Yeah, they caught him. Not hard to miss a broken-down car, with bullet holes”. “I would like to get him alone” …. “Not happening Judy, if this guy sees the light of day anytime soon, I’ll be surprised. He has several traffic violations, reckless driving, driving with undue care and attention, speeding, felony evasion, drug trafficking, possession of a controlled substance, possession of a restricted weapon, making a controlled substance, and just being plain stupid”. At the last one, Judy just laughs softly. “Oh, Nick what if we had lost Daniel? We just found him”. Judy starts to cry again. Nick just holds her tight, as this thought was on his mind too.

I slowly swim back to conciseness, With a throbbing in my arm and head. I can hear my parents and Vivian talking in hushed whispers. I croak out one-word "Bathroom". Vivian picks me up and takes me to the bathroom. She helps me do my business, as I have no sense of balance at the moment. Once done, she puts me back into bed and curls up around me. I start to cry, “Sorry mom, dad”. Gab's words came back to me. "sometimes we hurt others even when we are unaware of it”. Vivian just strokes me, shushing me, “not your fault Daniel". Vivian looks at Nick and Judy, "go home you two, I’ve got Daniel. You two look like you could use some alone time, Suppers in the oven, go”. Mom and Dad get up, come over and kiss me and Vivian good night, “we’ll pick you guys up in the morning”. They then leave lost in their thoughts. I drift back to dreamless slumber.

\----------

“Sir Subject “J”, has been in an accident”. “How bad is he”? “Not bad Sir, a broken arm, a bump on the back of his head, some scrapes, and bruising”.

“Can we get him out of the hospital and back here”? “No Sir, the grandmother is with him”. “What if we take the grandmother too”? “I would advise against it, as Nick and Judy are two of the best cops in precinct-one and I believe that they would not rest until we are caught”. “Right, let’s not rile up the cops”. “all right, was there any reaction to the accident from the test subjects”? “No sir, no reaction at all”. All right continue as before”. (from the files of the institute)

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	14. The Meadow

I wake up the next morning and realize I'm in a hospital. I can feel the cast on my forearm, my head hurts a bit, but not as bad as last night. I have a full-body ache, from all the twisting yesterday. But all in all, I am contented.

At this point, I should explain the difference between a chirr, and a purr. A purr sounds like pu-pu-pu or an old fashion one-cylinder engine. Whereas a chirr is like the same engine with a leak on the exhaust system. So, it’s a chu-chu-chu sound. As I don’t need the bathroom right away, I snuggled into Grandma, and start to chirr. Grandma wakes just enough to start to purr. We are like this for about 5 minutes before the meal attendant comes in.

The attendant enters with my breakfast and does a double-take at what she hears. It sounds like a bunny in the room. And all she can see is two foxes. The chirring stops as I look at her and say, “Hello”? She almost drops the tray as she realizes that I was chirring. At the word Hello, Vivian wakes up stretches, yawns, and jumps down from the bed, and stands up. The attendant sees my ears, and not knowing what I’m there for, assumes that it had to do with my ears, as they are rounded. “You poor guy, did it hurt when you lost the tips of your ears”? At this, both Vivian and I burst out laughing. “No, born this way”, I reply. I start twitching my nose at the smell of the food. She honestly doesn’t know what to think. Vivian spares her any further embarrassment. “Daniel is a hybrid, part his father and part his mother”. The attendant comes over to look at me. I show her my feet, ears, and nose. “Well aren’t you a unique little kit”. “Yes, I am, I agree. She then places the tray beside the bed. Well, you eat this all now”. “Will do”, I reply as she leaves the room. I give the cricket spread and toast to Vivian, and I eat the oatmeal and fruit. After breakfast, we use the bathroom and settle down to wait for my parents to pick us up.

After breakfast, I contact my littermates and tell them what happened. At first, they are mad at me, as they could not contact me last night. All they could sense was a type of white noise. I told them about meeting Gab in the meadow, and they were kind of incredulous, thinking it was all a dream. But I promised them that we would try to go to the meadow tonight and talk to Gab. After a bit, we cut the connection as their day was starting with lessons. I hugged them all, and caught a whisper of contact with Susan, Love You, was the feeling I received from her, as the connection was broken. “Where were you Daniel? Asked Vivian. You zoned out and were staring at nothing”. “Just thinking hard”, I reply. The look on her face said she wasn’t buying it, but she would accept it for now.

The doctor comes in about twenty minutes later. He is an older white wolf. “Good morning Daniel, how are you feeling this morning”? I tell him about my aches, and he checks my head, my arm, and checks my pupil response. “Well you appear to be just fine this morning, he says. And who might you be, you lovely flower”? Vivian blushes, and responds, “Vivian, Daniel’s grandmother”. “Grandmother? You can't possibly be that old”. Vivian blushes again, and says, yes, she is that old. The doctor reaches out and takes her paw, and gently kisses the back of it. At this Vivian blushes even harder. “My name is Peter Howler, good to meet you, Vivian Wilde”. “Goo…good to meet you too”. “Well I must see to my other patients; will you have coffee with me sometime”? “Ye…Yes”. “Good I’ll call you later”, he says as he jots down her number. I can tell he has a genuine like for Grandma, and I can feel her liking him, I just smile.

Mom and Dad show up about an hour later, with clothes for me to wear, as the old ones were cut off when I was admitted to emergency. I mourned the loss of my jacket, but grandma said she would make me a new one. Dad signs the discharge papers, and we all head home.

When we get home, Vivian and I have another breakfast, and mom and dad hug us both as they head out the door, back to work. Vivian gets out an old heating pad, and turning it on low, puts it in between the sheets of my bed. I then have a hot soak in the tub, no playing today, just too tired. I then get dried off and put to bed. The warm blankets and soothing heat have me asleep in no time.

When I wake up, I feel a whole lot better. Getting used to the idea of sleeping alone. I can hear voices in the kitchen, and assume mom and dad are home. I use the bathroom and come down the stairs to the kitchen. “Well son, you're looking a whole lot better”, says Nick. “Feeling a lot better”, I reply. Judy comes over and picks me up, kisses me, and starts to cry. “Not your fault mom”, I say, as I can feel what has her so upset. “See even your son agrees with me”, says Nick. Judy lets out a small chuckle, “I guess you're right slick”. “Course I’m right, told you, was just an accident. Well, we have a treat for you tonight Daniel. It's "pizza night".

“What’s pizza”? I ask. “What’s pizza"? Exclaims Nick, putting a paw to his chest and the other one in the air, "Only the most perfect food on the earth, coming straight from the gods”. Mom and grandma both laugh at this, “it comes from Tony's down the street”, says mom. I laugh as I now get the joke. This square box is taken out of the oven and placed on the table. It smells so good I can’t wait to try it. Dad takes this triangle of bread, cheese, and vegetables out of the box, and putting it on a plate, paws it to me. I couldn’t figure out how to eat it, tell I saw them each take a slice and with their paws, and bring it to their muzzles. “Finger food” I exclaim. Everyone just bursts out laughing, as I try to jam the whole thing in my muzzle. Oh God, it was so good, I could almost believe it came from the gods. I stuff myself full to bursting, I now look like a beachball. I let out a loud belch, and sit there contented, not wanting to move.

After supper, they teach me how to play a board game, "monopolize". It was fun, and dad was the one to win. I may have lost all my money, but now I had a good idea how to play, I was determined to win next time. After the game, we were all tired and head off to bed.

As I lay in bed, I linked with my littermates, and ask them to relax, as I try to remember how the meadow felt. As my breathing got slower, so did theirs. Eventually, I found the feeling of the meadow and willed us there. I woke up in the meadow, but couldn’t see them. I could just feel them over the little rise in front of me. I walked over the rise and there they were, still sleeping. I spooned into Susan’s back, and she moved back into me. With her eyes closed, she says, “God Daniel, I wish you were here”. “I’m right here”, I say. as I start to nibble on her neck.

Well, a few things happen all at once. Her ears fly up and bat me across my eye, her free hand punches me in the nose, and she jumps up letting out a mighty scream. This has the effect of waking everyone else up. As I sit there holding my nose, Susan lets out another scream, “Daniel”. Then she wraps me in a hug, and we both kiss, and tell each other how much we missed each other. A laugh resounds across the meadow, “Daniel”, you defiantly have a wicked sense of humor”, say's Gab. Everyone else crowds around me, giving me hugs and kisses. Eventually, we stop and look to Gab. I leave the pack and run and hug Gab’s front paw. He wraps his other paw around me, and we stay like that for a few. “Well, children do you have any questions for me”? We had lots of questions, some he answered, some he didn’t or couldn’t.

"Now that your questions are answered, are you ready to start training”? We all nod our heads to the affirmative. “All right, the first lesson is mind-melding”. “Mind melding”? We ask. “Yes, you need to make your brains whole”. “Whole”? “Yes, you need to use your whole brain the good and the bad. The bad is only bad in how you use it. Now I want you all to relax, concentrate on the worst experience you have had, and look at the part of the brain this thought comes from. This is the part of your brain you need to embrace, as this is the primal brain. The primal brain is were most feelings come from, good and bad. If it helps, think of this part of your brain as a small kit, who fears everything. You have to make peace with this part of yourself, and welcome it into your higher brain functions. Once you have made peace with it, everything else will become easier”. “Can you not show us how to do this”? “No, I can’t, as this is a personal journey that only you can make”. After a while, we all started to vanish one by one. “What’s happening”? Gab laughs, “they are just falling asleep, and going to dreamland”. I let out a sigh, “this isn’t going to be easy is it”? “It’s only as hard as you perceive it to be”. With that, I fall asleep.


	15. The Revel

I wake up the next morning, feeling much refreshed, and ready for the day. The cast is starting to itch, but I learn how to ignore it. I use the bathroom and go downstairs. No one is up yet, so I sit at the table. I pick up the pencil in my left paw and think how strange, all I wanted to do was draw. I got down, found some paper, sat at the kitchen table again, and using my left paw I begin to draw. Gab's face swims into view, so I draw that. A smiling Gab, with his left paw raised in greeting. I'm so into drawing the picture that’s in my head, I do not notice Vivian standing behind me, watching me draw. I hold up the picture and look at it, it is a very good likeness. Grandma scares me a bit when she asks "who is that Daniel"? After I stop my heart from racing, I tell her it is Gab. “And who is Gab she asks”? “He’s my friend from the meadow”. “The meadow”? “It’s a place in my mind”. She laughs and says it's a good picture, thinking I have an imaginary friend in my mind, and taking the picture, posts it to the refrigerator. She then goes about making breakfast.

Mom and dad come down a few minutes later, “Morning mom, dad”. I say. “Morning squirt”, says Nick as he tussle’s my fur. “Morning Daniel”, says mom as she kisses me. Then they see the picture on the fridge. “Whoa mom good drawing, didn’t know you could draw”. “I can't, replies Vivian, Daniel drew it”. “Wow, it's really good, who is he”? I reply, “it’s Gab from the meadow”. “What meadow”? Asks Nick. “The meadow in my mind”. “You didn’t trace it”? “No, I drew it”. Mom hands me another piece of paper and asks me to draw something else. So, I pick up the pencil and do a sketch of mom and dad holding paws, as they watch me draw, they eat breakfast. When I was done, they were amazed, this gets posted to the fridge as well. “These drawings are very good Daniel, we’re amazed”. I kind of swell with pride at their praise.

Mom and dad wish us a good day, as they head off to work. “So, Daniel what should we do today”? “Go to the library today”? I ask. “Sure”, says grandma as she cleans up the breakfast dishes. We then put on our coats and head out the door, Grandma holds my left hand as we walk down the street. When we get to the library, grandma puts me in the kids’ section and sits down with the other mothers, and gossips. As I am well above this reading level, I sneak out and find a book on drawing. I finish that one fairly quickly and see what else I can find. I end up in the classic fiction section and run across a book titled "the time machine". I bring it back to the kids' section and start to read. It is fascinating and very engrossing. I'm just about finished when grandma comes over to see what I'm reading. She takes one look at what I'm reading and just stands there watching me as I finish the book. I didn’t realize that I was speed reading, or even that it was unusual to do this. “Daniel, asks Vivian do you understand what you have just read”?

“Yes”, I reply, I go on to explain how it's a warning to not destroy the world with greed, and how technology won't save us from greed, and not to let technology rule our lives, and if mammals can’t see the past, we are doomed to repeat it. But the future can be changed, by just one mammal. Grandma is amazed by my insight, “Daniel How old are you”?

I squirm a bit because I don't want to tell her, but I trust grandma. I look at her, and ask, “can you keep a secret from mom and dad”? She doesn't want to keep secrets from her son and his wife but then thinks about the diabetic thing. “Will it hurt them to know”? Yes, I reply. “Why is that”? “Because they may and go and do something foolish, and I don’t want to lose them”, I say with tears in my eyes. Grandma promises me she can keep a secret. I tell her I’m 19 months old, at this her eyebrows raise, and so does her voice. “Daniel J Wilde, you know darn well that’s not what I asked”. I squirm around a bit under her glare, and in a small voice I say, “I estimate my mental age at about a 16-year-old level”. At this her eyebrows go even higher; “Daniel how is this possible”? “I just have a really good memory, and I have been force-fed information since I was two months old”, I reply. “What else are you not telling me”? “Grandma this is an even bigger secret and could put your life in danger. You have to keep this from everyone”. “Daniel, a burden carried by one is very heavy, but a burden shared, can lighten the load”. I see the wisdom in this and tell her how the house is bugged, with cameras, and mics because the institute is watching my development for their study. She gets really mad and furious at this; “we’ll just have to have them removed”. “We can’t I wail. It’s all or nothing time, but I’m just so scared. Grandma, there's more at stake than you realize”. “What else Daniel”? “If we remove the spying devices, they will know and may hurt my siblings and littermates”. At this grandma slumps in the chair, and starts to fall over. I reach up to steady her and wait for her to come back to consciousness.

“Daniel, she says, as she wakes up. How many siblings do you have”? “Three I reply, Terry, Davis, and Ava”. “And how many littermates do you have”? “Four I reply, Susan, Cindy, Suzie, and Rick”. “God Daniel, you don't keep little secrets, do you. How do you expect me to keep your secrets”? “I trust you, grandma, it's a burden shared. Their goanna kill me when they find out”, I say in a very quiet voice. But Vivian hears me. “What do you mean they're going to kill you? Can you speak to them? Thinking back to the hospital yesterday, you were talking to them yesterday, weren’t you”? I just nod my head yes. Vivian puts her head between her knees and does some deep breathing exercises. After a while, she calms down and looks at me. “Daniel this is a real burden, we should tell someone in authority”. “We can't, we don't know who to trust". Vivian sees the wisdom in this. "We will tell someone grandma, just not right now”. “Daniel, can you draw them”? “Yes”, I reply. “Good I want to see my gran kits”. “I just can’t draw them at home”. “Right we don't want to let them know that we know, you know”. We both give a small scared chuckle.

We get up and head out. We stop by an art store, and grandma buys me some regular pencils, and coloring pencils, and a big art portfolio. We go to a coffee shop; grandma gets a latte and I get a carrot juice. Then I have an idea, instead of drawing my siblings, I draw grandma drinking her latte. I shade it, color it, and show it to her. She is a little disappointed it's not my siblings, but she just shrugs and tells me it's good. And we head home. The rest of the day grandma acts nervous, but I just act normal. We all go for a walk after supper. (a normal walk, as I’m still a little sore). As we walk by Rita’s place, she comes out, to see if I was ok. I show her my cast, and she gives me a cookie. We retire back to the house for bed. “Sleep with me, grandma”? I ask. She agrees and we curl up together.

I open the link with my siblings and grandma, and we all go to the meadow. I didn't know if I could bring Grandma, but it appears to have worked. As I look around, I see my siblings and Vivian. We all gather around to one side of her, to wake her up. “Wake up please grandma”, I say. She wakes up slowly and looks around. “Hello Vivian Wilde, says Gab walking over to us. I see Daniel has brought you for a visit”. Vivian looks around a little confused, “where am I”? “Why you're in the meadow”, says Gab. “This place is real”? “Very much so”, says Gab. She then notices the rest of us standing off to one side. Her paws fly to her muzzle and her eyes fill with tears. “Grandma, I’d like to introduce everyone, this is Terry, he raises his hand, next to him is Ava, and next to Ava is Davis, these are my siblings. And on the other side is Susan, my mate, she raises her hand, next to her is Cindy, Terry’s mate, next to her is Suzie, Davies mate, and last but not least is Rick, Ava’s mate”. When the introductions are done they all rush Vivian for hugs and kisses. As things begin to settle down, it finally dawns on Vivian what I had said. “Mates? You guys are mated”? At this, we all break down laughing. “No, we are mates, but not mated. We are too young to be mating, our bodies are not Yet mature”. Vivian just turns red and stammers. Gab let's out with a laugh, “I’ll say it again Daniel, you have a wicked sense of humor”.

When everything settles down, Susan looks at me and starts to tap her paw. I knew I was in trouble at this point. “Daniel J Wilde, we talked about this, no one was to know about us for a long time yet”. I just hung my head, I had nothing to say in my defense. Vivian bursts out laughing, “oh God Daniel, you two are acting like an old married couple”. At this Everyone just laughs, as I can see the humor in it, I laugh too. Susan comes over smiles at me, kisses, and hugs me. “So, what are we gonna do now”? Nothing, for the time being, we just have to wait and see what happens.

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“How are things going in the lab? Has anyone else shown creative skills”? Well, we haven't given them anything creative to do”. “Well give them some toys and what not and see what happens”. “Yes Sir”, “No strange behavior from the subjects”? “None Sir”. “And their education”? “Roughly a grade eight level”. “God, that is Quite a bit, and they are not even two yet. Ok, is it time for phase two yet”? “We want to finish grade 12 before we start them on phase two”. “Alright, start them on light calisthenics for the time, and maybe some isometric exercises”. Very good Sir”. (from the files of the institute)

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	16. Christmas time

We get up early the next morning, and Vivian says she had the strangest dream. I motion her to the washroom, and we go in and shut the door. I run the sink water, “not a dream, I say. No cams or mics in here we can talk freely”. “Was the meadow a dream she asks”? “No, I respond, what you think you saw, you did see”. “So, there are eight of you”? Yes, I respond. “God, this is big, what can I do”? “Nothing at the moment grandma, safer if no one finds out at the moment”. “Aren’t you worried about them”? “Yes, grandma I am, but nothing bad will happen for a while, DeDe will warn us when the time comes”. “Who’s DeDe”? “DeDe is a rabbit, and surrogate mother, the institute put with us when we were about four weeks old, and she’s on our side, she has been my littermates mother figure since Heather died”. “Who’s Heather”? “Heather was our birth mother, she carried all of us to term, she died the morning mom and dad found me”. “Should I be knowing all this”? “In for a penny, in for a pound. A shared secret, weighs less remember”? “How did you get to be so smart”? “Lots of practice”, I say. Grandma just laughs.

The next few weeks just flew by, and now it was approaching Christmas. After supper, about a week before Christmas. Mom got a call from her parents. “Hey there Jude the dude, you guys still coming for Christmas”? Asks Stu Hopps. “Yes dad, will be there Tuesday, two days before Christmas”. “Good, you still bringing Daniel your foster kit”? “No dad, were goanna leave him at the orphanage on the way out of town, Of Course, were bringing him, what kind of question is that”? “Sorry Judy I just worded that wrong”. “I should hope so dad, Is Vivian still welcome or should we leave her at the orphanage too?” At this grandma and dad, are holding their paws over their muzzles, trying to stifle their laughter. Judy bursts out laughing at the face her dad has on the phone, “dad that is the first time I've pulled one over on you”. “Good one, Jude the Dude, all right, see you then.” The call ends, and everyone bursts out laughing. “Good grief Judy, have you not told them Daniel is our son”? “No Nick, I want to let them have an early Christmas gift, can you think of a better way to say GOT YOU than that”? “I’ve been rubbing off on you way too much fluff”, says Nick. Judy cuddles up to Nick, “well now that this shady charter has come into my life, I’ve been kind of seeing how far I can go".

It's early Tuesday morning and dad is grumbling about having to get up so early. “Nick, we get up earlier than this to get to work on time”. “Yeah, but that’s work, not working now”. “Good grief, you are impossible some days”. Nick just smirks as he takes a sip of his coffee. Meanwhile, I am just staring around at everything. The people, the sound, the smells, at this my nose is twitching, and some people are just staring at us. First time on a train and I don't want to miss anything.

The train arrives with its horn blaring, and I jump straight up, Dad grabs me before I start to come down. “Whoa, their sport didn't know you could jump that high”. The doors open, and everyone exits, before we're allowed to get on. We head for the seats we are assigned. The train is kind of full, and a lot of elbowing, and near misses occur before we find our seats. I put myself on the window side of the seat so I can lookout. Vivian sits in the same seat, and mom and dad are sitting in the seat across from us. We had bought large mammal seats as they could easily accommodate our smaller size. Cheaper for two big seats, than to purchase four smaller ones. The train starts up with a horn blast and then lurches forward. I watch the city fly by, as we head out of town. We go through a meadow section, and I can't help but wonder if this is the meadow Heather and I walked through. I connect with my siblings and show them the trip. The connection appears to be stronger the further we get out of the city. After we pass the tri-Borrows sign, the connection starts to get weaker. I now have a direction to go, when the time comes to go looking for them. This all happens about halfway to Bunny Burrow.

As we pull into Bunny Burrow, I don't see many bunnies at the station, but I do see Stu and Bonnie waiting for us. Judy runs to her mom and dad and hugs them. I run and jump into Bonnies' arms, she holds me for a bit, kisses me, and lets me go. Dad and Vivian handle the cart with all our bags on it, and I just bound around looking at everything. I see a big sign that is counting up the number of rabbits in Bunny Burrow. 80,000,000, wow that sure is a lot, I think. Greetings over, we all pile into the van and head for the farm.

I have never been to a farm before, so everything is new. From the smell of freshly turned earth to the smell of composting leaves. I get my first look at the burrow, as we pull into the yard. Looks like a hill with windows all over it. Two big doors, taller than dad, face us. “Wow Stu, that is some house”. “Thanks, Nick, it's been in the family for about a hundred years. Mind you, we add a little more to it every few years, the family still growing”. “How many bunnies live here”? “At last count, about five hundred. Give or take a few births”. “Wow, that’s a lot”. Judy greets a few of her siblings who come out to help us with our bags.

As I enter the house, I hear a low rumbling. This group of bunnies comes around the corner. I found out later that this group was called a "kerfluffle”. This is a group of bunny kits that are too old for the nursery, and to young for chores. An adult group of bunnies is called a “fluffle”. The kerfluffle stops dead in their tracks and look at dad, Vivian, and I, and mob us with questions. “Are you here to eat us"? "Are you a fox"? "Are we related"? "Can we see your teeth"? "Can we hold your tail"? "Are you Judy’s mate"? "Ohhh, your tail is so fluffy". Nick and Vivian just laugh at the questions and try to answer all of them. I’m approached by another group of the kerfluffle, who look at me and ask, “what are you”? “I’m a hybrid”, I reply. “What’s a hy…hy…hybrid”? “I have both fox and bunny genes". I then twitch my nose at them and jump straight up. Well, this starts everyone bouncing. They start to bounce out of the room, I look over at dad, and he motions me to go. So, with joy in my heart, I bounce out of the room with the kerfuffle.

“So, Nick, Judy", says Stu, as they settle down with a cup of tea. "Where did you find Daniel”? Judy Responds, “well he sort of fell into our laps at a crime scene”. “Crime scene”? “Yes, what we thought was his mother had been assaulted and was badly injured, I picked him up to console him as she died”. “Oh, that terrible” Bonnie replied. “Well, it turns out that she had no ID, and Daniel would have to go to an orphanage. Nick and I decided to foster him on the spot, and we were allowed too”. “So, if his mother is dead, are you guys goanna adopt him”? “Well about that, his mother is not dead, and no, we can't adopt him”. Both Bonnie and Stu get puzzled looks on their faces. “But, if she’s not dead, and you can’t adopt, why do you still have Daniel”? “What else would we do with our son”?

Judy gets a big grin on her face, as she says this. Stu’s mouth opens and closes like a fish out of water, Bonnies hands fly to her mouth as she lets out a squeak. Bonnie puts her hands down and looks at her daughter with anger in her eyes. “Judith Laverne Wilde, this had better not be some kind of joke, if it is, it’s in very bad taste”. “No mom, she responds Nick and I were just as floored as you when we found out”. “B…B. But, how is this possible”? Stammered Stu. “Well, you guys remember when we went to the clinic? They both shake their heads yes. What we didn't tell you was, they had six viable embryos for us, but before the procedure could be carried out, the clinic was firebombed, and we were devastated, so we never told anyone”.

“And your sure he is your son”? Asks Bonnie. “Bobby from the ZPD lab ran the DNA test on Daniel and found out that he is a 60% match to Nick and a 35% match to me. So yes, his mother is alive and doing well, so is his father for that matter. So, mom, dad, how’s it feel, to be grandparents again”? At this, Stu gets up, goes to a cupboard and pulls out a bottle, opens it, and drinks straight from the bottle, he then comes back to the table and offers to pour some in everyone’s tea.

We bounce through the house and end up in a playroom. This is amazing, an indoor play area. All sorts of playground equipment, sandpits, and toys spread out all over the floor. I have a few toys, but not as many as this. The other kits have no problem with me, we just all play together. Tag, duck, duck goose, hide and seek, I was good at that one, as my nose could tell me where they went. Eventually, an adult calls us for supper. She looks at me kind of strange but says nothing.

We wash up and head for the dining room. I am pulled aside by the same adult that called us for supper. “Shouldn’t you be heading home”? “Am home” I reply. “No, what I mean is aren’t your parents worried about you”? “I don’t know, they are around here somewhere”. Getting a little flustered, she asks who my parents are. “Nick and Judy Wilde”, I reply. With this, she put a paw in her mouth and just says, “Oh, your Daniel”? I just nod yes. She then takes me by the paw and leads me to a smaller dining room. As she opens the door, she says, “found him”. “Hey squirt, did you have fun”? Asks dad. “Sure did", I reply. I am seated between mom and dad for the meal. Bonnie and Stu, keep glancing over at me, throughout the meal.

New veggies to try, corn, squash, turnips, and yams, I just stuff myself with everything. “Ahh Nick, shouldn’t he have some meat”? Asks Stu. Judy answers, “no dad he won’t eat meat or bugs. We think it has something to do with his biology. He seems to get all the nutrition he needs for veggies and vegetable proteins. We haven't found a vegetable he doesn't like. But meat and bugs he will not touch.” I just shudder at the thought of eating meat.

After the meal, we all go to relax in the rec room. (very big rec room) Some watch TV shows, some play computer games, and some play board games in the corner. I am shown our bedrooms, and I grab my art supplies. I go back to the rec room. And sitting in a quiet corner start to draw. I draw the scene in front of me. After a while, one of the adults comes over to see what I am doing. I am so into drawing, again I am unaware of her approach.

“Hi Daniel, I’m Weena, may I see what your drawing”? I turn the portfolio around so she can see. Wow, that's good how long have you been drawing”? I reply, “about two weeks”. “TWO weeks? How old are you Daniel”? “About 19 months”, I reply. “O M G this is amazing.” At this, she runs over and drags a few more bunnies over. They all oh and ah over what I have drawn. As I finish, I take it out of the portfolio and hand it to Weena. “For you”, I say. “For me? Really? Thank you, Daniel.” She gushes and goes to show other family members. I then begin to draw a portrait of Stu and Bonnie.

They are facing out with their outside hands clasped at waist level and their inside arms around each other's shoulder. They are smiling, and Bonnie has a purple flower tucked behind one ear. I then draw them standing in a field with flowers and butterflies. The grass is bending in a slight breeze, with some fluffy white clouds in the sky. I finish this picture and lookup. I have quite the Fluffle around me this time. Stu and Bonnie walk over to see what’s going on, as there’s a crowd in the corner.” What's going on they ask"? For an answer, I just take the drawing out of the book and hand it to them.

Stu clutches his chest like he is having a heart attack, and Bonnie just tears up. “Did…Did you just draw this? From memory”? “No", I reply, "I just drew what I feel”. Stu turns to one of the older bunnies, “Brian can you get album 46”? “Sure dad, but why”? “Just go get it please”. He leaves to go get it. “Daniel, have you looked at any of the family albums”? “No, I reply. I just drew what felt right when I imagine the two of you together”. Brian returns with the album in question. Stu takes it, opens it, and shows everyone the big photo in the album. It's almost identical to my drawing, with some minor variations. Everyone is floored by this. “Daniel, can you draw something else”? “What would you like”?

At this Vivian steps forward. “Daniel, can you draw my wedding picture?” So, I begin to draw, the room has gone quiet, and all eyes are on me. I see in my mind's eye, what I need to draw. I draw Vivian facing a tod. She’s smiling at him, she’s wearing a red dress, holding an orange bouquet. The tod is wearing a brown suit, with a white carnation in his lapel. They are just on the verge of kissing. The scene behind them is of a city block, with a red convertible at the curb. When I show this to Vivian, she lets out a howl and faints away. Brian and Stu lower Vivian to the floor.

Nick and Judy run into the room asking what happened. For an answer, I show dad what I had drawn. Dad falls to his backside and lets out a small yipe. Now I’m starting to get worried,” Sorry Dad, I say”. “It’s ok Daniel, but where did you see this”? “In my mind's eye, Grandma asked me to draw her wedding picture so I did”. Everyone standing around is very confused, not sure what happened. “Well Daniel, I don’t know how you drew that, but that photo was destroyed in our house fire, 24 years ago”. At this point, Vivian regains consciousness and grabs Nick and cries. I get up, and going to grandma I hug her and say sorry. “Not your fault Daniel, I was asking for the impossible, never expecting to get it.” She hugs me in a fierce hug and continues to cry. Slowly the audience drifts away, till only Nick, Judy, Vivian, Stu, Bonnie, and I are left. Stu shows Nick and Judy the photo in the album, and the portrait I made of them. “Please don’t take this the wrong way, but you have a very unique gift Daniel”. “Among many, I reply.” They just laugh at my statement, but it is strained.

I'm dead dog tired by the time bedtime rolls around. I brush my teeth, change my clothes, and grandma curls up around me in bed. I need to talk to Gab, no sooner did I have that thought, than I was there. “Ah, Daniel, good to see you". He can tell immediately I'm upset. "What's happened”? He asks. I go on to explain the picture drawings and how scared I am. “Oh, Daniel, have you been trying to get in touch with your inner self”? I just hang my head and say no. “Why not”? “I don't know where to begin”. Gab and I start walking in the meadow. Gab has a paw to his chin and appears to be thinking hard.

After a bit, Gab looks at me. “Daniel, I want you to try something. Think of looking in yourself as a journey through a tunnel. As you travel, think of the lights coming on and staying on”. I say I can do this. “And as for the drawings, you are picking up the emotional thoughts of the individuals involved. Stu and Bonnie were relaxing and saw something on TV that reminded them of that day in the meadow. And Vivian was thinking about what she had lost and gave you that picture. This is not strange Daniel, it’s all part of what you can do, you are a communications mammal. If people think of something hard enough, you will pick up on that, you can sense it”. “Am I reading their minds”? Gab laughs, “No Daniel, you can't read minds, mind-reading doesn't exist. What you are picking up on, are emotions. And emotions can speak as loud as words. Now I believe someone over there wants to speak with you.”

I look over, and it’s Susan. “Susan,” I yell, as I get down on all fours and run to her. We collide with a happy squeal and fall to the ground. We laugh and just cling to each other. I nibble on her neck and she just lets out with another happy squeal. She then flips us over so she’s on top, and starts to tickle me. I start to laugh and try to lick her face. It's hard to laugh and lick at the same time. Eventually, Her nose gets close enough, and I kiss it. The tickling stops, and we just kiss. Then we just rest, I rub my hand down her back and she snuggles in, under my chin. We link our emotions, and no words are needed between us. This is peace and heaven, and I will want this for always. “How did you get here”? I ask. “Well, I was watching the last time we came here, and I got a feel for the place and figured I could get here on my own, and I could”! “I'm glad you're here, it's lonely without you", I say. “You're never alone Daniel, I'm only a thought away". At this we just relax into each other's embrace, Susan's heartbeat slows down and mine picks up, tell our hearts sync and beat as one, then we start to chirr.

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“Sir we have a strange development". "Define strange". "Well the directional mics in the compound, have picked up this unusual sound". "Let me hear it". The tech reaches down and pushes a button. The sound of a chirr fills the office. "That's not unusual, that's just a happy bunny chirr". "Sir, they are all doing it". "All, including the hybrids"? "Yes Sir. Also"..., and he plays a single heartbeat, "all their heartbeats are so close it sounds like one". "Is this something new"? "Yes Sir, just started tonight". "So, they do have some kind of link". "It would appear so Sir". "So, unconsciously they appear to be linked. Maybe, this link is under conscious control, and they are shutting it off"? "It's possible Sir". "Right, after the Christmas season, I want a series of test designed to find this link". "Pain response"? "No, that didn't work last time, try kindness first, we can always go back to pain later.” (from the archives of the institute)

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	17. The journey

I wake up Christmas morning, not sure what all the noise is about, I just head to the kitchen. Breakfast is buffet style; I help myself to toast, carrot juice, and oatmeal. Once done I head for the noise in the rec room.

I see the kerfuffle in the rec room along with most of the adults, and they are laughing at the antics of my dad. He's wearing a red jacket, with white fluff-lined trim, red pants, and a black belt. He is handing out packages to the kerfuffle. I sit back down in my corner from last night, and draw dad in the red costume, with red pants and a black belt. Mom is wearing a green hat and a sweater with green trees all over it, and black sweat pants, with green, pointed shoes. I then draw mom in the same picture but put her in a green dress. In the picture, dad is handing one of the kits a gayly wrapped package. When I finish, I walk over to the group.

“Morning son, sleep well?” I shook my head yes, and hand him the picture. “Whoa son, I’m the one handing out gifts”. Nick takes the picture, looks at it, and passes it to Stu and Bonnie. They look at it and ask if they could keep it. I say yes, it was meant to be shared. Bonnie gets up with the picture and puts it on a bulletin board just inside the door. Some of the adults get up to go look at it. Some are amazed that I can draw so well, and so fast, as they saw me drawing it just now. Dad motions me over, and says "Merry Christmas son", as he hands me a brightly wrapped package. I look down at the package and then look up at dad. "Well open it", he says. I rip the wrapping off and open the box. Inside is a blue shirt, a shiny brass badge, and some plastic handcuffs. I'm not sure what to think about this gift, as I had never received one before. I thank dad with a hug, I kiss mom and go change into the shirt.

I then come back into the room with the badge pinned to my shirt and walk up to dad, and in a low voice, say. “All right mister you're coming with me”, I make this pronouncement and motion him to put his hands behind his back. At this, the room goes quiet. Dad plays along, “but officer I've done nothing wrong". "I've got you on bribery charges, and possible theft charges. I have observed you trying to get on everyone's good side by giving them gifts". "But that's my job, giving out gifts". "Do you have a license"? "Well no", "do you have receipts for these gifts"? "Ahh no", "and I can see you've been taking them out from under this tree. Did you put them there"? "Ah no". "So, let me get this straight, you are handing out unknown gifts, that have been placed under the tree, by unknown mammals, handing them out to individuals, you are not licensed to do so, and this makes them happy? Your deeper in it than I thought”. At this, the room erupts into laughter. Dad and mom just hug me, and we all laugh along. The rest of the day is spent in fun and games.

As I fall asleep, I think about the day, and the questions I want to ask. When I get to the meadow, Susan is waiting for me. We embrace, and just sit down, and hold each other. Gab comes over, “Hi, guys", he says, "you look like you have questions". “Gab, what is Christmas”? “Whoa, you sure don't pick easy questions, do you. Well, Daniel, Christmas is a time of celebration, Family, friends, the end of the year, and the belief in something bigger, not the commercialization that it has evolved into”. “Celebration”? I ask. “Christmas was a religious holiday before it was commercialized holiday”. “Why was it Commercialized"? "Many people don’t want to believe, so the beliefs were taken out and gifts and merriment were put in”. “But what is the belief that was taken out”? “The belief that there is a greater power than what we see”. “Is there a greater power”? “That you will have to discover for yourself”.

"But if there is a greater power, why do such bad things happen in the world”,? asks Susan. “I assume you are asking for yourself”? Susan blushes red and just nods yes. “Well there is free will in the world, and some times greedy people exercise their right to control other individuals. I am afraid you are caught up in someone else's dream, or nightmare, depending on how you look at it”. “So, belief is a perspective”? “Yes, but that’s only part of it. Actions are also part of it. If you believe, that you can do no wrong, in your eyes you can do anything you want and it’s not wrong”. “So, what should we believe in”? “I can’t tell you what to believe in, that you have to discover for yourselves. What I can tell you, is if you don’t believe in something, you will fall for anything”. “Well I believe in what’s before me, and in this place, this love”. “That is a good start, but there is a lot more to it, and actions speak just as loud as words”.

Gab leaves us at this point, and I turn to Susan, “somehow I will get you out of there, I promise". "I know you will Daniel, but please don’t try to do it alone”. “I won’t do it alone, I need to find more adults, but I can’t use mom and dad”. “Why not”? “Because, I have a bad feeling, if I get them involved, we will lose them, I don’t want us to lose them. Am I being selfish”? Susan hugs me hard. “I know you will find a way; I have faith in you”. We then spend the rest of our time together wrapped up in our love for each other.

It was after Christmas when we got home to Zootopia. New years eve I tried to stay awake for the big ball drop in Central Square but fell asleep about 11:00 pm. I was sorry that I missed it, but there's always next year. Gab had given me a lot of things to think about and think about them I did. I decided for the moment that I would look inside first before I looked out.

I started my journey by thinking of tunnels, but that didn't feel right, I then tried thinking if rooms, but that also didn't feel right. What started me on my journey, was a combination of both. I envisioned the tunnels as halls and the halls being circles, with rooms every 10 feet. As I went down the halls, I would open rooms and flip on the lights in each room. As I came to a dark section of the hall, I would look for the light switch to turn on the lights. Some times the lights would be burnt out, and I would have to go for bulbs in a supply closet on every floor. After completing a floor, I would climb the stairs to the next one, and begin all over again. This went on every night for months, tell finally I got to the top, and I could find no more switches and bulbs.

The halls were dark and dirty, and I was scared, but determined to do this. I started walking these halls with a light I found on another floor. I found the supply closet on this floor, and it had cleaning supplies and bulbs. So, getting out the cleaning supplies, I started to wash the halls. As I washed, a dim glow would come from the walls, and light sockets would appear. When I found the light sockets, I would screw in a new bulb, and this section would light up. I still went into the rooms, and some lights would come on some wouldn’t, but all the rooms were dirty, and I had to clean them all. I could feel fear growing as I moved down the hall, but I would not let this stop me. Finally, I came to the end, this hall ended in a door, and I tried to open it, but it would not budge.

“Daniel, I called out, let me in”. **“NO, you’re here to destroy me”.** “I’m not here to destroy you, I love you”. **“You don’t love me you hate me”.** “No Daniel I don’t hate you; we are one, how can I hate myself”? **“But you do hate me, I force you to hate yourself”.** I have to think about it, and I realize, there were times I did hate myself. I also found times I feared what I could do, and I did find times I was angry with myself. I had to sit down and think about this.

"Yes, Daniel there have been times when I feared what we could do, but fear is a good thing, it makes us think about our choices. Without fear, we would make a lot more bad choices, and I would be angry with bad choices. But we have never lashed out or hurt anyone in anger”. **“But you have made bad choices”.** “Yes, we have, but we can't be ruled by our bad choices, all we can do is acknowledge our mistakes, rectify them and move on, we are not the sum of our mistakes. As for hate, yes, I get mad and hate myself, but that's only so we can make better choices later. Come, Daniel, let me in". I hear a whine from the other side of the door, but the door clicks open. I am scared and fearful of what I would find, but I walk in anyway. There I find a smaller version of myself cowering in the corner. I look at myself and I don't fear myself anymore. "Come, Daniel, I say, as I hold out my arms to him”. **“What will we become”?** "I don’t know, but we find out together”. At this, he gets up and we embrace.

I would like to say that there was some earth-shattering experience, but that didn’t happen. We embraced and cried, and I slowly melted into myself. When I stood up, we were one. Did I feel any different? Not really, all I felt was whole, and in control.

This was quite the journey, and I was exhausted all I wanted to do was sleep. But I found myself in the meadow. “Well done", said Gab. I look at Gab, and say, "that was a hard-fought journey”. “It was only as hard as you wanted it to be”.” I guess I’m hard on myself”. “No harder than anyone else. So, what would you like to learn now”? “I need to learn how to defend myself”. I reply. “Very good, we will start tomorrow. Sleep well”.

I wake the next morning, feeling like I had run around the block twenty-nine times. I use the bathroom and drag myself downstairs. Dad takes one look at me, and asks, "you feeling ok sport?" I tell him I'm just tired. Mom feels my forehead, "well you are not running a fever”, “just tired" I reply. Mom and Dad kiss and hug me as they head out the door for work. grandma looks at me with concern, "I'm fine grandma, just tired". I finish breakfast and start to node off. Grandma picks me up, and we head upstairs. "Bathroom please", I say, and she takes us there. When the door closes, she looks at me, "what happened Daniel”? “Grandma I just had a journey last night, and I am just tired”. “You would tell me if it was something else”? “Yes grandma”. Vivian then picks me up and puts me to bed, I’m asleep before my head hits the pillow.

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"Subject "J" was not feeling well this morning, kept saying he was tired. After breakfast, he went right back to sleep”. “Do we have a reason why he was tired”? “Well, he had a very restless sleep last night, kept kicking and tossing all night”. “Do any of the other subjects show the same symptoms”? “No Sir, “J” was the only one”. “Were there any stimuli yesterday that might have riled him up”? “No Sir, he was having a quiet day at home”. “Right, I don’t see anything to worry about then”.

“How are the link tests coming”? “We have hit a roadblock, we aren't getting any response from them”. “All right I want you to split them into two groups, bunnies on one side hybrids on the other, and put them into separate rooms”. “They have never been apart sir”. “Well, maybe this will get a response out of them". (from the files of the institute)

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	18. tribulations

I get up feeling a lot better, but the light seems to be bothering my eyes. I squint to keep the light at a bearable level. I use the bathroom and come downstairs. As I walk into the kitchen, Vivian notices. “Problem with your eyes? Daniel”. “Light hurt’s", I say. “Come here Daniel and let me have a look”. So, I go over and look at grandma. She gets down and peers into my eyes. She lets out a laugh and goes and shuts off one of the lights. “Better Daniel”? “Much better” I agree. Mom and Dad ask what is it? “Well, Nick we're going to have to sunglasses for Daniel, tell he gets use to strong light. His eye color has come in”. “What? No way”. Now that the light is dimmer, I can open my eyes, and look at them. “Wow, that is so cool”, says mom. Dad just says, “that’s my boy”. I'm kind of puzzled until I see my reflection on the stove door glass. I then run to the mirror in the bathroom. Why I have emerald green eyes just like dad, It’s kind of cool. I had been so used to seeing blue, I just thought that was my color. I come back to the kitchen, and ask if this was normal. “Well, normally, eyes change color on kits at about two years of age, but not always, you are 22 months old, so it’s normal”. I’m relieved that it’s not one more strange thing to add to my list.

“Supper was good grandma, thank you”. “Why your welcome Daniel”. “I think I’m going back to bed, still tired”. “You do that Daniel”. I use the bathroom, and then head back to my room, and crawl into bed. I fall asleep almost immediately. I wake up about halfway through the night. Use the bathroom, and head for the meadow.

Gab is waiting for me. “Oh, I see your eye color has come in, that color suits you”. “So, what will I be learning tonight”? “You will be learning the art of "avoidance". Yes, the art of avoidance. It’s not as lame as it sounds. The art of avoidance, is the art of fighting without seeming to fight, let me demonstrate, throw a punch at me”. So, I throw a punch, he easily moves out of the way. “Again, faster”. So, I throw punch after punch at him, I try to claw him as well, but he seems to just flow out of the way. After a while, I stop as I am tired. “See, look at you, you're tired, and I have barely started to breathe hard. This is what you need to learn. Your opponent wears themselves out and you still have lots of energy left. You can do this too, but it takes practice. Now I want you to go to the library and read books on isometrics. This is also part of avoidance. Isometrics is the art of pitting your muscles against the opposite muscles, thus strengthening both. You need this to flow like you watched me do. Oh, and bring everyone next time”. “Will do, Gab, till next time”. I just flop down and fall asleep immediately.

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“Sir, most of the test subjects have had a restless night, and when they awoke, their eye colors had come in”. “Is this normal for kits to have a restless night before they get eye color”? “Well Sir, it’s never been studied before”. “How many still have to have their eye color come in”? “Three Sir”. “Which three”? “N”, “O”, and “Q”, Sir”. “Was there any order to how the colors came in”? “No Sir, they just seemed to settle down at about the same time”. “So again, it could be a link thing”. “It could be Sir”. “Have we established this link”? “We’re still getting hints, but no, we have not established a link”. “If it’s an unconscious thing, try pain on one of them while they are sleeping, see if you get a response”. (from the files found at the institute).

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I’m feeling great this morning, I use the washroom, and bound down the stairs to the kitchen, “Morning grandma. Well, aren't you full of energy this morning”? I bound up into my chair, and am handed a glass of carrot juice. “Where’s mom and dad this morning"? "Something came up and they had to go in, so it’s just us today”. I’m a bit disappointed, as it is Saturday, but I do have things to do. “So, Daniel, what would you like to do today"? "Park", I all but shout. "Park it is”. As it's an overcast day the light doesn't bother me too much. As we head off for the park, I notice the surveillance van down the street, but pay it no mind and we continue to the park. As I’m playing, I notice a small fox off to one side, I can feel his loneliness, anger, and hurt, and before I know it, I am walking over to him. 

“Hi. My names Daniel, what’s yours"? He gets fearful before he looks at me. He turns to see me holding out my paw, and I project peace and calm to him. (I may have overdone it a bit) He shakes my paw and says his name is William. “So, William, would you like to play with me"? He is still Leary of me and my offer but does accept. We play for about an hour when grandma says it's time to leave. “Thank you, William, I had a fun time”. “I did too", he replies, "do you live around here”? “I live just up the street 2700 block”, I reply. “Do you live around here William”? “No”, he replies, as he runs off. Strange I think to myself. “Who’s your new friend Daniel”? “William”, I reply. “Does he live around here”? “He didn't say, grandma”. “So, what would you like to do now”? “Library"? I reply hopefully.

As we head for the library, grandma stops at the dime store and gets me a cheap pair of sunglasses. As I put them on, I realize how much I had been squinting, and the relief when I released the tension in my forehead, felt great. We also stop at the coffee shop for some drinks to go.

I look around the library and spot the watchers, there are two of them today. I signal to grandma we have watcher, and she does a slight nod of her head in acknowledgment. “So, Daniel, what would you like to look at today”? “Well grandma, my arm still doesn’t feel right, so maybe we should look into some exercises I can do for it”. “Ok”, she says, giving me a puzzled look, as the cast had come off several months back. We head over to the computers and type in a search. Just as I had hoped isometric exercises was one of the first few to come up. I clicked on that and watched a 30 min video of someone doing a demonstration of this. “Wow", I exclaim, "that looks like a kind of dance, just really slow. I want to learn that”. So, we go to the book section and pick up a few to read. I sit down and read through a few of them, and get the gist of what they are saying, Vivian checks out a few more and we head home.

When we get home, I go and change into some loose-fitting clothes. I then head to the living room, the biggest space in the house, and grandma joins me. She is also wearing loose-fitting clothes. “Grandma”? “Daniel, I have lots of free time, and I figured you could use a partner”. So, we start with the first few diagrams from one of the books. We laugh and fall over quite a bit, as balance seems to be part of it. When we call it quits for the day, we are both tired and sweaty. “Who would have thought that just learning how to move could be so tiring”? says grandma. I agree as I head for the tub to soak. “Ah. ah. ladies first in the tub”. The race is on to see who can get to the tub first. (I won) But it didn't matter, we just shared, as the tub was made for medium to large-sized mammals. As we lay there soaking our aches away, grandma asks, “why the sudden interest in exercise Daniel”? “It's part of my training, body, mind, spirit as one”. “Wow that’s deep, says Vivian”. As the water in the tub is more than enough to float, I just start to laugh. After a minute grandma gets the joke, “Gab was right, you do have a wicked sense of humor”.

Mom and dad come back just before supper. “Oh good, your back just in time for supper”, says Vivian. “Sorry, mom we kind of wrecked the day”. “That’s ok, you have no control over what criminals do”. “So, what did you and Daniel do today”? “Well, we had some fun at the park, and Daniel made a friend, we are now trying to learn some new exercises”. “New exercises”? “Yes, Daniel said his arm was still bothering him, so we went to the library and checked out some books on isometrics”. “So, how did the first day go”? “We had lots of fun, but it sure was tiring to learn how to move”. “Think you will stick with it”? “Who knows, it could be a fad”.

After supper, we played “monopolize” again. This time dad lost, in a very dramatic fashion, I might add. Mom won and I came in second. We then settled for a bad movie night. If it was supposed to be scary, it failed miserably. Who could believe that a 10-foot-tall carrot would attack mammals? "Attack of the killer carrots" was one of the worst movies I had ever seen. As a comedy, it was that we laughed quite a bit at some of the jokes and groaned at a lot more. Soon it was time for bed. I waited for grandma, and looked to my siblings, I did not find them all. The only one’s I found were Rick, Ava, and Suzy, so I linked with them, and grandma, brought us all to the meadow.

When we got to the meadow, all my littermates were there. Susan ran over to me and we hugged. she looked different, I put her at arm's length, trying to spot the difference. “Wow Daniel, you have green eyes”, she says. I then look at Susan’s eyes and notice her eyes, they were a brown with gold lines running through the brown. “Wow, your eyes make you look so serious”. We then kiss, embrace, and meld our feelings, and just stand there. At this point, grandma is being mobbed by everyone else. Susan and I eventually break apart and go to grandma. Grandma at this point was exclaiming over the eye color of some of the others. Terry had eyes of forest green, darker than my emerald green. Cindy had the same color as Susan, Davies had emerald green eyes like me. Ava, Suzy, and Rick are jealous that they have no color yet. I tell them it’s not unusual for color to come later, but I assure them it will be just as spectacular as the rest of us. “How did you guys get here”? “Well, Susan explained how she does it, so we just copied her”.

“Welcome kits”, says Gab, walking over to us, “good to see you all. And good to see you to Vivian, everyone ready to learn”? We all responded yes. “Alright, then let us begin. All right everyone copy what I do, but in reverse, as you are looking at me. First is your stance, Davis feet further apart, Daniel arms a little higher, tail down. Susan, ears up, chin up, good. You to Vivian, get in line please”. “But”, “no buts young lady, you are here to learn just like the rest”. We all giggle at this. “No giggling this is a serious time, all of you”. Vivian then joins us in the line.

And teach us Gab would, twist, turn, bend over, for those of us with tails it was tail up, twist tail down, twist back, tail to the side, stand on one foot, all the while twisting and turning. We fell over quite a bit, but through it, all, Gab, was a hard but fair taskmaster. When he finally allowed us to rest, we all just flopped down where we were at.

Susan lets out a mighty scream and vanishes. We react, but Gab stops us with a word. “STOP, don’t move. The institute is running a test, don’t react to what just happened to Susan, she is ok”. “What kind of test”? “They are trying to find out if you guys are linked. If you react, they will know you are linked”. “But what can we do”? “Nothing, no response is the correct response”. I can feel the anger rising in me. Gab looks at me, “LOCK IT DOWN, Daniel. There will be a time for anger, but that time is not now”. The anger I was feeling, just flows out of me like water, and I feel empty and deflated, as I felt that I had just about given us away. Gab says, “tomorrow we will be working on control of our emotions, time for sleep everyone”, and we start to vanish one by one.

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“Sir, it was an interesting day”. “How so”? “Well, Subject “J” is now doing isometric exercises with his grandmother”. “How did he stumble on to that”? “He said his arm was still bothering him, and they did a search at the library, for exercises to strengthen arm muscles, and isometrics came up”. “Was this a random search”? “Yes Sir, he clicked on the icon and got excited watched a video of a mammal doing it, and decided that he would try it”. “Do you think he will stick with it”? “Who's to say, Sir, he is a kit after all”.

“Right, how did the other test go”? “Well Sir, we did get an assistant to scratch subject “K” on her arm as she was sleeping, and the test subject woke up with a scream, and went for the throat of the lab assistant”. “Was this a normal response”? “No Sir, rabbits when startled or hurt, usually cower or run away. She went on the attack. The lab assistant swears that he was being attacked by a savage bunny”. “Savage”? “Yes Sir, savage, he says he felt like a dangerous predator was attacking him, and he swears that her eyes were slitted like a savage”. “Did any of the cameras capture this”? “The attack was captured on video, but even enhanced we don’t see an eye change”. “Right, so did any of the other test subjects react to what happened”? “No, Sir, they just continued to sleep peacefully”.

“So, the link may be there, but they may be able to control it”. “Yes Sir, I feel that this may be a dead-end”. “At this point, I would agree with you, but keep an eye out for it, I'm just not sure we should stop looking for it. I think you can put them all back together again, it would be easier to teach them all in one room”. (from the files found in the institute).

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	19. living life

I get up the next morning, a bit stiff and sore. I use the washroom and head downstairs. When I get to the kitchen, I can see grandma is moving very stiffly “ I guess we overdid it yesterday, didn't we”? Grandma just shakes her head yes. “Even hurts to speak today”, she says. I go and sit down, and Grandma joins me at the table to eat breakfast. I get out the step stool and help grandma with the dishes, after breakfast. We then go laze around the living room watching movies all day, eating popcorn, and trying not to move too much.

By supper time I'm feeling a little better, so I help grandma make supper. I chop vegetables for a stir fry, and make a salad for mom and I. Vivian makes chicken and noodles for dad and herself. Mom and dad come home and I greet them, I can tell their tired, and just want to relax. “Long day I ask”? “Long day” dad agrees. After supper, we relax in front of the TV, but it isn't long before we all drift off to bed.

As I'm falling asleep I reach for my littermates, but I don't find them. so, I head for the meadow. When I get there, I find them all there as well. I rush over to Susan, I grab her, look at her, and ask, “are you hurt, what can I do to help"? She looks at me and breaks down crying. I just wrap her in my love, and she just cries on my shoulder “Oh, Daniel, all they did was scare me with a scratch, but my reaction was, I went primal on them. I was trying to kill the lab tech who did it, I was so angry, I…I…I almost gave us all away.” She cries all the harder. “It's ok, Susan, I think we would have all reacted the same way, and the point of the matter is you did regain control before someone was hurt, or you gave us away. We will all have to be on guard for this sort of thing”.

“And to that end, comes tonight’s lesson”, says Gab. Gab just hugs Susan and I and makes all of us sit in a circle. “Control of one's emotions is paramount when dealing with other mammals. When I told Daniel, last night, "to lock it down", instinctively he knew what to do. But you all need to learn to do this consciously, emotions can either help or hinder you. I’m not saying you should avoid your emotions, but to think before you respond to stimuli. In Susan's case last night, if her brain had engaged before her emotions, the outcome would have been different. So, to that end, we start with conscious control of our emotions.”

So, we spent the night raising, and lowering our emotions, gaining some control over how we use them. Some responses we knew we would have a hard time with, fear when scared by something, and anger when someone hurts us. Anger and fear, are very primal emotions, and therefore the hardest to control. But with Gab's help, we had started down the journey of control. Anyone who says the voyage of self-discovery was easy, never went on the voyage, they're still standing on the dock looking out to sea. Also, anyone who says that mental exercises are not tiring, does not do many exercises, they probably spend most of their time jumping to conclusions. By the time Gab let us go for the night, we were so tired, we almost blinked out as one as we fell asleep.

When I woke up in the morning, my head was a little fuzzy, but my body felt fine. Grandma had a little bounce in her step, as she made breakfast. After breakfast we went to the park, I was hoping to see William, but he was a no show. So, I played mostly by myself. Most of the other kids in the park, once they noticed I was different, stopped playing with me. I did feel lonely, but I could take a journey to Susan and my littermates, and always get a quick hug which would make me feel better.

After the park, we went window shopping, Vivian had learned a long time ago that foxes were not welcome to a lot of establishments, as we were seen as shifty low life's, who would steal just about anything. So, we stood outside a lot of stores looking in. Some would welcome us into their shop, others watched us outside as if we were trying to break in. I think this was when I started to want to be a cop, I wanted to see the injustice stopped towards every species. Foxes weren't the only ones discriminated against, but by far foxes were the ones discriminated against the most.

We then made our way to the supercenter, they would allow anyone in, but we were still watched. I was still fascinated by all the stuff you could buy here. We walked the store and looked at a lot of things we didn't need, but the TV commercials said we did. Grandma bought me some more clothes, and herself a new dress, then we bought some more groceries. After shopping, we had lunch at a small cafe down the street from home. When we got home, we put the groceries away, and I went to change into my “work out clothes”. Grandma joined me. We were better and our positions were good, but by the end, we were just as tired and sweaty. The soak in the tub felt good on tired muscles. “So, Daniel, what happened with Susan”? “Well, Susan almost got us caught”. “Caught”? “Yes, they hurt her while she was sleeping, and she went primal on the lab tech who hurt her”. “Did she hurt him”? “No, but she sure did scare him”. “Oh, I can just imagine how scared he was when a mild and meek rabbit attacked him”. We laughed at this picture in our heads.

Mom and dad came home early, and we went for a walk. Vivian had made me a new “jacket”, the first time we walked, mom was very Leary of chasing me, but dad and I convinced her it would be ok. I found it easier to avoid mom as we ran, and when we got to the alley, I did look twice to make sure that no cars were coming. When we got to the corner, I went around it and hid under the bench. Mom missed me so I had a head start back to dad. I could see dad in his linebacker position, and I faked him out. At this, I removed my jacket, and I had my blue shirt and badge underneath. Now we were just three cops walking the beat. Rita saw us coming back. “So, you three, couldn’t catch that little hoodlum tonight I see”. “No, he was just to fast tonight”, I replied. She just laughs and hands me a cookie.

As I fall to sleep, I grab grandma and I try something new. I slow down my travel, to try to see where I am headed. I get flashes of the city, a meadow, a forest, and catch a glimpse of a building. Is this where they are being held? I ask myself. Then I will myself to the meadow. When we get there, Gab has already started the lesson. “You two are late, what took you so long?” I hang my head and tell him I slowed down the journey, to see if I could find the place where they were holding my siblings. “We Will talk after, Daniel”. Oh boy, I knew I was in trouble. We all get into a meditative state and start the exercises. We learned new and different moves tonight, and I developed a whole new set of aches. As everyone blinks out, I kiss and hold Susan just before she blinks out, and I am left alone with Gab.

“Daniel, why did you try that”? I look at Gab, and holding my head high I tell him I want to get them out of there. “Very admirable Daniel, what did you learn”? “That it’s not as easy as it seems”. “In what respect”? “The distance is far, not too sure of what I saw, and I'm not sure if it will help”. “Well Daniel, it's not as far as you think. And slowing down your travel takes more energy. You rob some of that energy from Vivian, as she was linked to you”. I hang my head in shame. “When you are doing that in the future, ask the person you bring if you can have their power to do this”. “I’m not mad at you Daniel, this development is just a little earlier than expected”. “I will apologize to grandma in the morning”. “Do that, now off to bed with you”. With that, I blink out as well.

\-------------- 

“So, anything new”? “Yes Sir, we gave them stimuli of various designs, and they were happy with that. But what got the most attention, was when the guard dropped his radio. And it shattered. Subject “O" picked up the pieces and put them on their bench, and with tape and paper clips he got the radio working”. “How badly broken was it”? “Sir, the case was shattered, and the circuit boards were broken as well, if you watch the surveillance cameras you can see how he did this”. “Right, so give subject “O” some basic “electricity and electronics” and move up to circuit design”. “Anyone else”? “Yes Sir, subject “N” Seems to be able to hack the “kit” computer we had given them”. “Hacked”? “Yes Sir, it now makes a farting noise every time it starts up”. “All right Give her an old computer, not tied to the mainframe, and see what she can do. Give Subject "N" basic computer programing, and see where it goes from there”. “Very good Sir.” (from the archives of the institute)  
\------------


	20. Love is in the air

So, things go on for a while like this, exercise one-night, mental exercises the next. Gab did allow one day off a week, not sure why, as no one had a preference I chose Saturday night. And we were getting good at both. I figured Gab would be stepping up our game soon, so I put extra effort into it and it showed.

“Nick, I want you to look at this, this is one of the early walks we took with Daniel, Now I want you to look at the latest one. Notice a difference”? “Well, he seems to be moving a lot better than before”. “Nick it's not so much as move, as he seems to flow, no more excessive bouncing, no more wasted directions when trying to getaway. He seems to be aware of where I am at all times, and move accordingly. I tell you, Nick, you know how fast I am, but Daniel, is faster and able to move in impossible directions. I swear that if that accident happened now, he would have come out of it, without a scratch”. “Come on now fluff, I think you're exaggerating it a bit”. “No, I’m not, Nick, I can’t catch him anymore, and when was the last time you managed to catch him on the way back? Nick, he seems to know what we are going to do”. “So, he’s gotten good at reading people”. “I think theirs more to it than that. Maybe it has something to do with his strange ability”? Nick thinks about this for a bit, “you know you could be right, fluff”. With that, I come in the back door from the yard.

“Evening squirt, have fun in the back yard”? “It would be more fun if I had a brother or sister to play with”. Judy gets a full head blush, and Nick blushes too. Vivian looks around the corner, “There’s that wicked sense of humor again, Daniel”. Vivian says this as she puts on an earring. “Whoa mom, Did I miss a special occasion? You look amazing”. “Thank you, dear, but no, I'm just getting ready for my date”. “You have a date mom? Who with”? “Why I do believe you are being overprotective again, son”. “Sorry mom, I just can’t help it”. “Well if you must know, it’s Peter Howler from the hospital”. “Isn’t it kind of sudden”? “No dear, we have been going for coffee for some time now, and he finally asked me for a date, which I accepted”. “Did you know about this Daniel”? I just nod my head yes. “Well Daniel has been my chaperone for all the coffee dates, I couldn’t just leave him alone, could I”? Just then the doorbell rings, “I’ll get it,” I say as I jump up to answer the door.

“Evening mister Howler, how are you this evening”? “Daniel, how many times do I have to tell you, call me Peter”? “100,000 times” I respond. Everyone in the other room just laughs. Vivian comes around the corner followed by mom and dad. “Ready to go, dear”? “Yes ma’am, your chariot awaits”. “Oh, and Nick, don’t bother to wait up for me, I’m a big girl now, and I can look after myself.” With that, she kisses dad and heads out the door with Peter. As I close the door and turn around, I can tell I’m in some kind of trouble. I hold up my hand before anything could be said, and say, “not my place to say, grandma would have told you before now if she thought you should know”. Dad deflates a bit at this, I’m sure he could see the logic in it. “But I can say that they like each other. Don't be surprised if grandma doesn't come back till tomorrow sometime.” They both blush at this statement, as I burst out laughing. “He is a good mammal dad, just give him a chance”. “All right, who are you and what have you done with my son”? Dad says, as he grabs me, and starts to tickle me.

We start a bad movie night, this time It's about a duck (a sentient duck?) who ends up in a strange world of bipedal mammals. They have five fingers and five toes, instead of the usual three, and they never go down on all fours, they always walk around on two. He keeps trying to find his way home but fails, but he saves their world in the end. The main upright mammal in the story then falls head over heels in love with the duck. Talk about a strange relationship. After the bad movie, I take a bath and head for bed.

“So where are we going, on this date"? "I thought I would take you to Chez Laronge, my little she-wolf". "Well actually I'm a vixen, but I like how you think". Vivian cuddles in close to peter. “So, this is the first time without a chaperon". "Well if it bothered you that much, we could have done this sooner". "Everything in its own time, my little red vixen". "Why Peter, I believe you are falling for me". "Ahh, were here, good food, but also the best darn view of the city". "Ah Pete, I don't see a restaurant". Peter laughs, "look up, way up. It's a revolving restaurant at the top of the tower. It takes approximately one hour to make a complete revolution, so you get a view of the whole city". "Wow I didn't know that there was such a restaurant". "Ready to ascent to the heavens"? He asks taking her hand and leading her to the elevator. “Lead on kind sir.” As they enter the elevator and select the top floor, Peter thinks it’s time, he leans down and gives Vivian a quick kiss. But the quick kiss is returned, with passion. They hear the ding of the elevator, as it reaches the top floor, and they break the kiss, both gasping for breath. They step out into the lobby and walk to the hostess who would seat them by a window, with a great view of the city.

“So, Peter I hope you are not playing me, as I can see you are still wearing a ring on your right paw”. “I wear this ring, Vivian, as a reminder of what I lost.” Peter gets a sad look on his face, as he pulls out his wallet. He shows Vivian a picture of himself (much younger) and an arctic fox. In the picture, they have their inside paws around each other's shoulder, and in the other, they have what appears to be a kit of about two. “We were coming back from the fair when we were broadsided by a drunk driver, he got out with only a scratch, and a cut. I lost my wife and son, and about six months to a coma. When I came out of the coma, I knew by the looks around me that my family was gone. They were everything to me. My pack leader, threw me out of the pack when I married her, so from that point on it was just her and I. When I came out of the coma, my pack was willing to take me back, but I wasn’t willing to go back to those hypocrites. If they couldn’t see the love, we had for each other, then I couldn’t love them. So, from that point on, I became a lone wolf and threw myself into my job.”

With this Peter looked up and saw the tears in Vivian’s eyes. “Oh, I’m sorry Vivian, that was a really heavy subject for a first date”. “No Peter, it’s the perfect subject for a first date. What made you ask me out after all that time”? At this point, they were interrupted and asked what they would like to order. “Do you mind if I order for both of us”? Vivian just shakes her head no. “Then my good sir, we would like the surf special and two-night howlers. Yes, some fool came up with a drink with that name, but it is quite good". When the ordering is done, Peter looks at her and says, “I asked you out because of Daniel”. “Daniel”? “Yes, I could see the love you had for him, even though I could see he was a hybrid. And something came back to me, I think I had forgotten how to love, and I realized I did want to feel that again, And I feel it again with you Vivian”. He says this, as he takes her paw in his from across the table. “Wow Peter, you are a bit of a romantic”. “I do try”, they both just laugh.

“Well if we're being honest, I need to tell you my story”. “You don’t have to unless you want to”. “My story starts 28 years ago. I was a young vixen, in love with a tod, it was a whirlwind romance and after 6 months we married. John was a good tod, he worked hard in a Taylor shop, but always had a dream to start his own shop. Well, I become a mother fairly quickly. Nick was born and the three of us couldn't be happier. Things went along well for about 6 years, John was walking home from the shop, when a speeding car, blew a tire, and jumped the curb, just as it came close to John. I was told he tried to jump over the hood of the car, but he was run over by the car. He died there in the street, with no one around. The person driving the car said they weren't speeding, the cops said they were. It went to court, and he was going to get off on a technicality. But a few days before the next court date, he was caught speeding 3 times the speed limit in a residential area. No one else was hurt, but the judge found him guilty of John’s mammal slaughter. He was sentenced to three years in jail. Nick was angry at the verdict, he figured he should have gotten life”.

“The insurance company tried to give me a small sum, for it to all go away. But a high-powered lawyer handled the case for free. The insurance settled out of court, they gave me the house we live in, and a small monthly fee to keep up the place. Nick was never the same after that. He just couldn't see the good in people. After about 6 years, Nick had stolen my money again and I just threw him out of the house. So, at the age of twelve, Nick became a con mammal. My heart was broken that I had to throw him out, but I never gave up that he would come around and be good again”. Vivian dabbed at her eyes as she told this.

“So, what made him change”? “Well, you remember that cute little bunny in the house”? “Yes, is she a friend”? “No, Peter, that’s Nick's wife. She was a cop who needed help, and her chief did nothing to help her. So, she turned to the only other person she knew in Zootopia. And with Nicks help, they solved the missing mammal’s case, and the night-Howler case, which put Bellwether behind bars. She believed in him when no one else would. And because she did, Nick then went on the straight and narrow and became a cop. She is Nick's partner on the force and a home”. “Wait, you're telling me that was Judy Hopps at your house”? “Yes Pete, that was Judy Wilde, Nicks wife of two and half years now”. “Wow, and Daniel is their kit”? “Yes, he is their biological kit”. “How did that happen”? “Were not sure it’s still under police investigation".

With that their meal came. Their meal was eaten in relative silence, both of them thinking of what the other had said. Their meal done, Peter pays the bill, and they head down to the lobby. They were in no rush, so Peter pushed all the floor buttons, and they started to kiss, one for every floor. As they get into the car, Peter turns to Vivian, “Could…Could you love an old dog like me”? “Oh, Peter, I know I already do.” And with that, they kiss with all the unbridled passion they both contain.

So, as I appear in the meadow, I could sense the attack coming from behind, I move just enough that the paw goes by me, I then grab the paw and pull the person off balance and to the ground beside me. But Gab jumps up and continues the attack. We fight back and forth like this for about 10 minutes, neither of us giving ground or losing. Gab then steps back, and putting one paw in a fist, he then puts it on his other paw palm, which is flat, like a piece of paper, and he bows to me. “Very good Daniel, you have proven yourself.” My littermates who were standing off to the side, and watching the whole thing, start to clap. “So, Daniel, what are you planning for your second birthday”? “Nothing Gab, I don't want to celebrate our birthday without my littermates.” With this, I am mobbed by them all. Gab, just laughs.

“Well Daniel, I have taught you all I can teach you, regarding defense, you need to learn offensive maneuvers, which I can not teach you. You will have to find a new teacher in the waking world”. “But why can’t you teach me offensive maneuvers”? “Look around you Daniel, this is love, and love is not offensive. Love is not the end or the beginning, it just is. I’m sure you can find a teacher in the park close to your home. You will just have to look”. “Can I teach my littermates”? “Yes, you can, just not here in the meadow. You will have to show them by pictures and feelings”. “Is this goodbye Gab”? Gab laughs, “no Daniel this is not goodbye, I will always be here for you, I can teach you more, but you have to ask the right questions. And I’m sure you will be back in the future with more questions.” With this Gab walks away and leaves us alone. I hug and kiss Susan, and we just walk in the meadow arm in arm.

\----------

“So, any progress on finding out what they can all do”? “No Sir, Just “O” and “N” so far”. “So, give them books on varied subjects and see if they take an interest in something”. “What kind of subjects”? “Let’s try math, medical, music, structural engineering, quantum theory, and just about anything else”. “Very good Sir”. “Anything else new”?” The last of the test subject, have their eye color”.” What colors”? “N” has amethyst eye color, “O” has a gold color, and “Q” has gold with brown lines through the iris”.

“And their education”? “They seem to have stalled at about a grade 11 level”. “Seems to have”? “Yes, “O” “N” are well above that level, they are doing 1st-year university computer science and electrical engineering”. “Could they be hiding their abilities from us”? “I believe so, but until we are sure I would hesitate to start level two”. “Right, continue, report to me if things change.” (from the archive of the institute). 

\----------


	21. hard case

As I got up this morning, I noticed grandma was not in the house, so I got up and made breakfast. I had to stand on the counter to get the waffle mix out of the cupboard. I heated the waffle iron, mixed the batter, and started to cook waffles. I turned on the oven to keep things warm. I made a pot of coffee and made some fruit spreads. As we were low on fruit. (whipped cream, sugar, fruit, and vanilla). Just as I got it all done, mom and dad came into the kitchen, to say they were surprised, was a bit of an understatement. “Where’s grandma Daniel”? “She’s not here”. “Then who made all this”? “I did", I reply. "I have been helping to make breakfast for a while now, this is the first time I have done it all”. “Wow, you are a kit of many talents.” Mom and dad both grab a coffee and sit at the table as I bring the waffles out of the oven. At this point, grandma comes in the front door and rushes to the kitchen.

“Oh, sorry guys, I’ll just get breakfast started.” She notices the food on the table and gets a surprised look on her face. “Sit down mom, Daniel has already got it.” I jump onto my chair and slather fruit spread all over my waffles. “Wow Daniel, I’m impressed, I didn’t know you were paying that much attention to what I was doing”. “You mean he hasn’t been helping you”? “No, he has helped with clean up, but never in the making of it.” With this all eyes turn to me, I turn beet red, “Surprise everyone”. “Daniel, you told us you had helped”, said mom sternly. “I may have stretched the truth a bit, but I am a quick study.” At this grandma takes a bite of the waffles, and exclaims, “this is good, did you add cinnamon to the batter”? “Yes, I like cinnamon”, “and this fruit spread is divine. You can cook for me anytime Daniel", says Vivian. Both mom and dad agree that this a good breakfast.

“So, mom, how did your date go last night”? “It went well last night; Peter was a real gentle mammal”. “I can see that, keeping you out all night”, said dad a little testy. “OH, Nick”, says Vivian as she grabs his paw across the table before he can remove it. “I know this kind of sudden for you, but I’m not trying to replace your father. Your father will always have a place in my heart, and I will never forget him. But Peter makes me feel, alive again. I want to live again Nick, not be stuck in the past, and play the game of what could have been”. At this statement Nick deflates a bit, “I’m sorry mom. How serious is it”? “Well, why don’t you ask him yourself over supper? I have invited him for supper tonight. And this time I do the cooking.” Grandma says, looking over to me. I just blush again.

We got to the park, and I get a strange urge to do my isometrics. This is the first time I have done it in public. I get into my stance, and grandma notices what I am doing and comes to join me. We are about ten minutes into our routine when an older gentle mammal joins us in the routine. The three of us are in perfect sync, Mom and dad are impressed, as they had never seen our full routine. When we were finished, we put paws to palms and bowed to each other. “May I ask who has trained you? Oh, excuse me my name is Oscar”. “Well, I say, a snow leopard named Gab, trained us”. “And how far has he taught you”? “As far as offense, he would not teach us offensive moves”. “May I test you both”? “You may”, replied Vivian. No sooner than that Vivian was under attack, she was not as good as me, but she was very impressive. Halfway through his attack on Vivian he turned to me and attacked. I tell you Gab had been holding back, I had to scamper and jump and move a lot faster than ever before. But after a bit of this, he steps back and puts his fist to palm and bows. “That was the best workout I’ve had in a while. You both have the forms and style, and you youngster, are fast very fast. May I have your names, please”? Vivian speaks up, “my name is Vivian Wilde, and this is my grandson Daniel”. “My full name is Oscar Delaront, am I to assume you wish further training”? Both grandma and I say yes. “Good, meet me at this address Monday, I will be there all day,” with this he hands grandma a slip of paper with an address on it, and then he turns and walks away. “Wow guys, that was very impressive, where did you learn those moves”? “Gab taught us” I reply. “Does he live around here”? “You could say that,” as grandma looks at me and we both burst out laughing, dad doesn't get the joke. We continue around the park and have a good Saturday. By the time we got home, Vivian was stiffening up, we both jump in the tub for a soak, “that sure did take a lot of energy”, grandma says. “Yes, I respond but it will be worth it.”

Mom and dad go for groceries, as we are just about out, Grandma has them pick up some special stuff for supper. And Vivian starts to cook. I am shooed out of the kitchen with a stern warning not to come back. So, I sit in the living room and watch a kit show on TV. “Ma we're back”, “Good just put the groceries on the table, I’ll put them away”.

Mom and dad join me in the living room, and we all decide to watch a chick flick. Mom is crying by the end of it, and dad is playing the stoic “nothing gets to me” But I could tell it did get to him. I just did a quick trip and hugged Susan, she was kind of puzzled, but I replayed the movie in my head, and she hugged me back, Silly fox she sent. Movie done, we played cards till Supper.

Peter arrived at about 6:30, 10 minutes before supper was ready. I answer the door, “Good evening, Mr. Howler” I say. “Good even Mr. Wilde, nice night isn’t it”? “It sure is mister Howler, Won’t you come in”? “Why thank you, kind sir.” Vivian starts to laugh at our exchange. Peter ruffs up the fur on the top of my head as he passes by. “Good evening to you Wilde’s”, as he shakes mom and dad's paw. “You can call me Judy”, says mom, “only if you call me Peter”, “deal,” mom says as she lets go of his paw. Dad says nothing as he lets go of Peter's paw. Peter notices this and knows that it is Nick he has to win over. “Well, come on in everyone, supper is ready".

Supper is great, I can tell it’s all of dad’s favorites, but I can see a storm cloud brewing over dad’s head, and I feel possible intervention is needed. There isn’t much diner conversation we mostly eat in silence. Finally, supper was done and Peter spoke. “Wow, Vivian, I haven’t had a meal like that in years, I could put on a few pounds eating like that”. “Glad you liked it,” said Vivian giving him a shy smile. I could see the cloud break over dad's head, and knew, here it comes. “So, Peter what are your intentions towards my mother”? “NICK”, mom says. But Peter just shakes his head, “I’ve got this one Judy. My intentions are noble Mr. Wilde I want to marry your mother and grow old with her, I want a life mate, I want someone to tell me when I'm wrong, someone to laugh and cry with, someone to wake up beside, someone that I can share all my dreams with. Someone who is there for me, and I for them, and I believe that I have found that in your mother", he says all this as he strokes Vivian’s paw. I can see dad’s not buying this at all.

“DAD WASHROOM NOW, I holler,” putting a compulsion behind it, I look at everyone and see the shock on their faces. “Dad and I need to talk, we will be back in a few. Peter, please don’t leave till we come back.” I leave a smaller compulsion on Peter not to leave, it can be broken, if he wants to go.

Dad is furious by the time I get to the washroom, “What the hell do you think you are doing Daniel”? “Stopping you from making a bigger fool of yourself than you already are”. “What are you talking about”? “You were about to tell Peter that everything he said was a lie and that you believed none of it. Peter would have said that he wasn't lying, and you would have fought him over what he said, you would have hurt each other, and probably both ended up in the hospital. And the only person hurt by all of this would have been grandma. Grandma would have had to choose between you and the person she loves. If she chose you, she would have resented you for the rest of her life. If she chooses Peter, you would have seen it as a rejection of you, and you would have resented her for the rest of your life. Tell me I’m wrong dad, tell me I’m making this all up, and I’ll apologize to you, and let you go out there and make a fool of yourself”.

Dad slumps to the floor and starts to cry. I just crawl into his lap and hold him. “Dad, emotions are not hidden to me, I can see the love they have for each other, and I can see the love you have for mom. They are the same, and they fell no different to me”. “Does he love her”? “Yes dad, he does”. “And does mom love him”? “With the part of her heart she has to give, yes, she does”. “What do you mean the part”? “Dad there is a part that still loves John, and a bigger part that loves you, but she has room to love another, will you allow someone else into your life, someone else into her life, do you have a heart big enough for someone else into our lives”? “Daniel, how old are you”? “Dad for your protection and mine, I can’t answer that right now, but in the near future I will answer that, that is all the answer I can give you at this time”. “I also felt what you had done to me, who trained you in your gift”? “Does it matter who trained me? Just be glad I have been trained”. “I'm not gonna get any answers tonight, am I”? “No dad, no you’re not”. Dad let's out with a weak chuckle, “can you leave me alone for a few”? “Yes, I’ll just go back and join the others.”

As I walk back to the kitchen, I can see that a lot of crying had been going on, so I just sent calm and peace to everyone. I crawled into my chair and sat there looking over everything. Mom looks over at me and raises an inquiring eyebrow, I just give her an ok sign. Vivian and Peter look up as dad enters the room. Before anything can be said, dad raises his paw. “I'm sorry everyone, I let what I was losing blind me to what I was gaining.” He says this as he walks over to his mom, and hugs her. “I’m sorry mom I was being a real asshat”. He stands up and looks at Peter, “Peter I’m sorry, I would like to start again if I may”? As he holds out his paw, “Hi I’m Nicholas Wilde I’m glad to meet you Peter Howler”. As Peter takes his paw, dad pulls him into a hug, “I hope you can forgive what I almost did tonight, and for what it's worth you have my blessing to marry my mom.” He did not say it very loud, but everyone heard him. Vivian’s paws fly to her muzzle as she exclaims, “do you mean it, Nick”? “Yes ma, I mean it.” Judy came over and hugged Nick. “Wow, Slick that was very big of you.” Dad just reaches down, picking up his wife, kisses her. At this point, I pass out.

It is a bit before anyone notices my state. But when they do, I’m just picked up and put to bed.

\----------

“Sir, we have a small development”. “Small”? “Yes Sir, while in the park today, they met up with one Oscar Delaront”. “Who is he”? “He appears to be some sort of martial arts fighter. They appeared to do some sort of martial arts technique with him”. “So, where did they learn this”? “It appears that the isometric technique can be turned into some sort of defensive fighting, the watchers weren’t sure but it appeared that he was testing them”. “I don’t see this as a problem”. “Like I said Sir, it’s just a small development”.

“Also, it appears that there may be a new member in the household, one Peter Howler, a pediatrician doctor from Mercy General”. “Was he the one who looked after “J”? “Yes Sir, he was. The good doctor appears to have fallen for the grandmother, and they are now planning a wedding”. “Does this interfere With the study”? “No Sir should not affect the study at all". “Right, then carry on.” (from the files of the institute).

\----------


	22. fight training

I wake up Monday morning feeling good about the day. Peter had wanted to spend the last two nights here, but grandma said no, not tell after the wedding. He relented only after a very passionate kiss with grandma. So, now the wedding was set for two Saturdays from now. I guess everyone forgot it was my birthday that Saturday, but no matter, I will share if I have too. Breakfast did not go fast enough. “Slow down Daniel, we have all day to get there", says grandma. She can tell I'm excited. We finally get underway to the address.

At the address, there is a nondescript grey building, four stories high. We can see a sign that says members only. We open the door and are immediate challenged upon entry. “Who are you and what do you want here”? “We were invited by Mr. Delaront”, “go away he is much to busy for the likes of you”. “No, I say, we were invited and we won’t leave till we see him.” With this, he attacks and tries to throw us out. I move as fast as necessary, to avoid him, he then presents himself with an obvious flaw as he attacks, I take advantage of this and flip him like I had done Gab. "Enough", is hollered from the open door. Mr. Delaront comes through the open door. “Maurice, how many times have I told you not to overextend yourself”? He gets up and putting a fist to palm, bows to Mr. Delaront. “If this child can see it, and use it as he did, do you not think I am right”? “Yes, Master”. Turning to me he asks, “how old are you, Daniel”? “Two in a couple of weeks, Sir”. “TWO??? Wow, you are the youngest student here. Come, follow me”. As he heads into the building, I can see no windows, but there is lots of light. There are circular ports around the room and some on every floor. Most of the building is an open concept. Two balconies run three quarters around the room, with a door every 10 feet.

He leads us to the locker rooms and has us change into an outfit called a “Karateka”. We come out of the locker rooms, and head for the group of mammals at some mats. We are handed some white belts to hold our uniforms closed. We are told to go to the middle of the mat. “Begin,” we are told. Shrugging we begin our routine. When we finish, we fist to palm and bow to the mammals sitting there. Two of the mammals get up and walk towards us, “begin,” was all the warning we had before they attacked. I moved and flowed like never before, it was all I could do to stay with him. Vivian lost in about a minute, and I kept going. I was tired but then a strange mood came over me, and I seemed to see what was coming next. Then the second guy attacked as well. I had to move in several different directions at the same time. I tried to get them to tangle themselves, but they seemed to know how to fight as a unit.

I did not last long after that before I was brought down on the mat. “Enough,” was hollered, and one of the attacking mammal offered me his paw to get up, I accepted and he pulled me to my feet. I was sweating profusely, but I turned and fist to palm bowed to the masters. There was a heated debate going on, in a language I could not understand. After about ten minutes two mammals came over and untying my white belt tied a brown one around me, Vivian got a purple one. “Who has been your teacher up to now”? “A snow leopard named Gab”. “We don’t recognize the mammal; does he live around here”? I look at Vivian, she shrugs and motions me to tell. “No Sir, he lives in a place called the meadow.” Several of them get a puzzled look on their face, but others just get a knowing look. A debate then breaks out again in the same language. As they are debating, we are told to walk so we don't stiffen up.

“This snow leopard, how did you meet him”?” I first met him while I was in hospital after the car accident”. “Does he work there”? “No Sir, I was still unconscious at the time of our first meeting”. “So, he is in your mind”. “No Sir, I go to the meadow and meet him there”. “So, you travel in your mind to this meadow and meet this teacher there”. “Yes Sir, that is as close as I can explain it”. “And how did you meet him”? He asks Vivian. “Daniel linked with me and brought me to him as well". Some of the mammals look at me with ahh. Others look at me with disbelief. “I am special Sir, and I can prove it, but it can’t leave this building if I show you”. “Why do you say this”? “Sir, I have high powered people after me, for what I can do, I was taken from a secret experiment, and I’m sure they want me back”. They huddle and talk in low whispers. “Daniel are you sure this is wise”? “Grandma I need help, and this is a good way to get it”. After whispering amongst themselves for a while they agree. All the students are told to leave the building for an hour, once they are gone, the door is locked and the masters sit down and look at me.

I then breathe deep and go to my primal brain. To say they are shocked is an understatement, some got up ready to fight. They can see my slitted eyes, and feel my primal emotions, I am projecting my savageness. “You see gentle mammals I can be very dangerous in the wrong hands, and yes, I can control it”. With this, I revert back and fall to the mat exhausted. Everyone is speechless, “projecting takes a lot out of me, but I wanted you to see what I can do”. One of the masters gets up and leaves through a small door in the back of the room. No one speaks tell he returns. In his paw, he has a small scroll. They unroll it and start to read it amongst themselves. “Daniel, do you know what you are”? “No”, I reply. “According to this scroll, there has been only one other like you in the recoded history of this DOJO, and that was over a thousand years ago”. “Is he a legend”? “No, he was just a mammal, but he heralds a new era in our history back then. Some believe that you herald a new era to come. What do you wish from us”? “Training is all I wish”. “Then training you shall have.” With this, they all shake their heads to the affirmative. “But, be warned we will not accept anything but your best”. “I accept”. “Then your training begins now”.

By the time we left, we were so tired that we hailed a cab to bring us home. “Grandma, you don’t have to go through this with me”. “Yes, I do, in for a penny, in for a pound, remember”? So now we have a schedule of three days a week of all-day training. The next few weeks fly by, and now it’s time for the wedding.

Peter and Vivian decide to have a civil ceremony with a few close friends and family. On Peter's side is a few coworkers and on Vivian's side is family and a couple of friends Rita being one of them. After the ceremony, we go to Chez Laronge for the reception. Everyone is ooh and ahh over the sight of the city below us. As this is a perfect time, I stand up and propose a toast. “To grandma and grandpa for giving me the best birthday gift I could ever receive.” Some get a puzzled look, others get a shocked horror look. “O.M.G. Daniel, we forgot about your birthday”. “That’s ok, you can just give me double the presents next year”. This get’s a small laugh out of mom and dad, grandma still looks at me with horror, “you can just celebrate this day with your number 1 and number 2 in your life grandma, you don’t mind being number2 do you grandpa”? With this everyone starts to laugh.

Grandma and grandpa spent the first night at his apartment but figured they could break the lease and move him in by the end of the month. I made breakfast for mom and dad before they head out to work. Vivian came in just as I was finishing the dishes. “Did you get breakfast grandma”? “Ah no, didn’t have time”. “It’s in the oven grandma”. “Thanks, Daniel,” she says as she kisses the top of my head. This time I feed her apple pancakes with a cinnamon honey glaze. “Daniel, I swear I didn’t know where you get your ideas for food, but you would make a great chief”. “Not interested in being a chief”. “Well, what do you want to be”? “I’m going to be a cop like my parents”. “Is that part of the reason for the training”? “Part”, I agree. “Well, I think it’s a noble goal in life”. “Thanks, grandma.”

As grandma is walking a little stiff, I suggest she take a nice hot soak. She agrees that she will. As she takes a bath I decide to see if I can reach my littermates. I settle on my bed and do some deep breathing exercises, shown to me by my new DOJO masters.

I decide to go slow and see how long It takes to get to my mates. I seem to float out of my body and travel across Zootopia, still thinking of my siblings, I slowly travel across the meadow, through a forest, to a three-story building in another meadow. I seem to be floating around this building. As I float around, I memorize as much as I can for drawing later. I fell a tug and my midsection and notice a cord from my midsection going back towards Zootopia. The tug gets stronger and more insistent and eventually, I am drawn back to my body. I wake up, weak as a newborn. I now know what the tugging signifies, I believe this is my energy level, and when I get low, self-preservation brings me back, whether I want to or not. It took most of the day to get my energy levels back up. In the meantime, I sat in a corner (without cameras), drawing all that I could remember of the place. Then I put the portfolio away in my cabinet, hiding it behind all the other ones.

At bedtime, I head for the meadow to talk with Gab. I hug Susan as I arrive, and we stay linked for a few. Not all of us are here, but that’s ok. “Daniel, what are you doing”? “What do you mean”? “I felt you earlier today but I did not see you”. “I was scouting around the place, so I can describe it later”. “Are you thinking of getting us out again”? “Yes, but I'm not thinking of doing it alone. That place is like Fort Knox on the outside. It has both armed guards and security cameras”. “Well, how were you doing It”? So, I show her what I had done in separating myself, “So, this is what we all do when we come here”? “I believe so, but be warned it takes a lot of energy to just hang around”. “Daniel, I will do this, and scope out everything for you, the building and people, and I can give you the images of everything later”. “This is why I love you; I say as we kiss”.

“So, Daniel, Says Gab as he walks over. You appear to be trying something new”. So, I explain to Gab what I had done earlier in the day, and ask him, “is there a way to get more energy, or to store more energy, and were does this energy come from”? “Well you already know one way to get energy, that is to just take it from other individuals”. “NO, I won’t do that”. “Good, to answer the third question all living thing generate energy, from the lowest blade of grass to the tallest giraffe, even the movement of the earth generates energy”. “So, is there any way of tapping into this energy without stealing it from another? And where does it go”? “The meadow is the collection point for all excess energies. From here it flows to dreamland, and any not used there flows to the great beyond. There is a way of tapping into this energy, but if not done properly, you could burn up like a roman candle by taking to much into yourself”. “Daniel, please don’t do this”, says Susan hugging me, “I Don’t want to lose you”. “You won’t lose me, as I won’t try this until I have had full training. So, what about the third option? Is there a storage device”? “There are some crystals that harmonize with the wearer and could hold energy given to them by their wearer. But this is a small reserve, and may not be enough for practical applications”. “Can you teach me Gab”? “Yes, I can teach you, but what are you going to do for me”? I’m a bit shocked, this is the first time Gab has asked for something in return for teaching. “Is it something immoral, harmful, or evil, I ask”? Gab falls to the ground laughing. “Oh god, you do have a wicked sense of humor. No, Daniel, the only thing I ask from you, is that you never seek revenge or vengeance. Seek justice, but never let yourself be the judge”. “I believe I can do this Gab”. “I need to teach you to, Susan. If you are going to help Daniel, you will need more energy too”. “Me? I’m no hero”. “Neither is Daniel. But you work well as a team. Will you give me the same promise as Daniel”? “Yes Gab, I give you my word”. “Then let us begin".

\-----------

“Sir, we have tried to find out what happens in the "DOJO" that subject "J" is attending, but it appears to be by invitation only. They have thrown us out at every attempt me have made for the entry”. “Can we get some sort of surveillance in”? “No Sir, there are no windows, and no outside doors leading in, but the main entrance”. “Isn’t that some sort of code violation”? “Yes Sir, it is, but as the building was built before modern building codes, they have been grandfathered in”.” Just how old is this building”? “All the records we can find, says the building was here before Zootopia was built”. “Wow, that’s old”.

“So, any luck finding the strengths of the other subjects”? “Subject” L” Appears to have picked up on finances”. “Picked up”? “Yes Sir, we gave him a book on day trading, and if we had invested in the stock market as he said, our money would be up 22%”. “All right, give him a 1000-dollar bank account, and let him run with it. Anyone else”? “Yes Sir, subject “M” appears to be a medic, he has picked up all medical is willing to teach him. Mainly basic first aid, and the AED”. “Why won’t they teach him more”? “They're afraid to give him access to medical equipment and drugs”. “Fine, I can see their caution, give him more advanced books, just books, and see what else he picks up”. “Sir, subject “P” appears to have a bend towards the law”. “P” wants to be a lawyer”? “It appears so Sir”, “well I don’t see what use that is to us, but go ahead give “P” all the law books she can handle”, “and Subject “Q”? hasn’t shown a liking for anything we have given them so far, Sir”. “What about the subject "K"? “same as "Q" shows no sign in liking anything”.

“Has subject” O” come up with anything useful”? “Yes Sir, I was coming to show you an electrical schematic that he has designed”. “I can't read those damn things, just give it to me it in a nutshell”. “He seems to have designed a spy camera jammer”. “That’s nothing new”. “This design is Sir. Not only can it jam cameras and other recording devices, but it can send a signal telling the listeners that it is a mechanical malfunction, and the camera just broke, it then gives bits and fragments of video, to the listeners. It can do this from about fifty feet away, so it doesn't have to be in the same room as the camera, or on it”. “Wow, that could be very handy, is it a feasible device”? “Yes Sir, we could build this device for about 22.00 dollars a device”. “Alright build a few devices and see if the Z.CIA would be interested in buying them for about 500 dollars apiece”.

“So, I assume that that little development has moved in”? “Yes Sir, Mr. Howler has now moved in with the Wilde’s”. “Can we use this to our advantage somehow”? “I don’t see how Sir”. “Well, it was just a thought.” (from the files found in the institute).

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	23. storm

So, life has become very routine, we work out at the DOJO three times a week, and play at the park on off days, and sometimes go to the library. Sometimes William is there, most of the time not. Peter has moved in, but he is more of a ghost than mom and dad. He does work hard for the hospital, Vivian does not begrudge him the time, as she knows that it will be hard for him to slow down after all this time. What time they do spend together is quality time, and that makes up for the times he is not there. Some times he joins us on Saturday’s in the park, and we all play like kits on those days.

This is our daily life till about early December when I receive my red belt and Vivian receives her brown belt. From this point, I am being taught by most of the masters in the DOJO, and most are not as easy on me as Mr. Delaront, if by easy you mean being only smacked down to the mat once a minute. As the masters are all species, I have been learning the strengths and weaknesses of different species. This is hard to keep straight in my head but started to go easier if I just let the primal side of my brain do the fighting. By this I mean that is if stop analyzing what I am learning, and just let myself learn it, I pick it up a lot faster.

It was cold off of central square where we lived, but not cold enough to snow. I have been to tundra town a few times, and have seen snow, played in it, so it was no big surprise the night of the big snowstorm. The cold wall for tundra town was shut down "for maintenance" while the storm blew through. The first time in a long time the climate wall had been shut down. Sahara square was hit the hardest, as this was the hottest zone in the city. It got down to a chilly 10 degree C, and snow was even falling there. It melted as fast as it hit the ground, but the residents were not to be seen, as it was much too cold to operate outside for them. Consequently, the only ones moving on the streets were crooks, cops, and emergency personal. and some people who just had to get somewhere. Power had a hard time keeping up with the demand, but to their credit, they came through for us with flying colors.

During the storm is when I received a summons to the meadow. (I didn't know Gab could do that) Mom and dad were out on patrol, Peter was at the hospital, and Grandma and I were curled up with each other watching a movie when the summons came in. I looked at grandma, but she was already asleep, so I headed to the meadow. When I got there, there were two adult rabbits (jackrabbits actually) waiting for us with Gab. They were taller than mom, so would come up to about chin height on dad. They carried themselves with a bit of air. “Evening all" says Gab, "I would like you to meet Thumper and Juniper”. As Gab had been teaching me about power use and drawing, I could see a slight power usage on the ear of Thumper. I thought this was strange, it made me think of a cover-up. All of us were introduced, but they were more interested in the rabbits of our group. So, the rest of us either watched or blinked out. I watched as the only ones left were my littermates. They played silly games, laughed, and jumped all over each other. They bounded through the meadow with my littermates, while Gab taught me more about power usage. “Gab what gives with the rabbits”? “I can’t tell you about that right now Daniel, maybe you can figure it out on your own, now back to your lesson”.

The next morning, we were stuck in the house, snow was still falling, and it was kind of deep for me. So, I played silly games with grandma, did our routine, and practiced some moves I knew grandma could do. Then we watched some more movies. Mom and dad came home tonight as the roads had been plowed. They were so tired they fell asleep almost immediately. Grandma had to wake them up after supper, to get them to go to bed. Shortly after that, I went to bed.

I went to check in with Susan but found her missing, so I went to the meadow. It was a repeat of last night, but I watched it all unfold. Gab wasn't around and I wondered where he went when he wasn't here. But I watched and memorized some of what went on as I felt it would make a good picture.

The next morning, we could get out of the house. The snow had stopped falling, and I wanted to go to the library. Grandma took me to the library, and left me alone, she went to gossip with her friends. I started a search for victims of the snowstorm, there was only one, and old dog in tundra town who was found frozen to a park bench. But as a footnote to one story, I found a reference to an accident in central when the snowstorm had started. I clicked on that and read the story. It appeared that the couple had lost their brakes and slammed into the side of a building.

I searched all the news outlets I could and finally came up with a picture of them. It was thumper and Juniper, and he had a black spot ¾ of the way up his ear and just slightly off to one side. Their real names we Justin and Jenifer O'Hare, and they were millionaires. So, I did some research on them and came up with a lot on them. They were always claiming that they were robbed of their kits when the fertility clinic had been fire-bombed. There was a one-million-dollar reward for information leading to the apprehension of the perps, and the return of their children. I checked the dates and they matched up perfectly, the only conclusion I could come to was my littermates were their children. Wow, this was big.

I did some more checking and found that they didn’t die in the accident but were in comas at the hospital. His brother one Larry O’Hare had medical control over them and was asking the media to let them have their privacy and to stop asking questions. I later asked Grandpa if he could find out anything about the O'Hare's, he said he would try, but this could be seen as a breach of ethics, was it that important to me? I said yes it was. He said he would find out all he could.

When he got home later that night, I could tell the news was not good. “Daniel, Why the sudden interest in the O’Hare’s”? As we left the library, Grandma and I had talked it over and concluded that a partial truth was better than none, the whole truth would come out later. I told Grandpa that I had interaction with their children. “Well Daniel, the O’Hare’s are in comas and appear to be brain dead. Larry O’Hare was going to pull the plug on life support tonight”. “Do you know what time”? "Yes, he said 11:59 just before the stroke of midnight". Why at that time I wondered, seemed kind of strange, but I still had time to do something.

When I fell asleep, I went straight to the meadow. I had beat everyone else tonight. Gab corralled me as soon as I appeared. “Daniel, come with me please”. We walked over to a quiet side of the meadow. “I know you know the truth now Daniel, but you can’t tell them”. “But why not? They deserve to know”. “Because Daniel, it would put you all in jeopardy. How would the institute see it if they all started to cry at the same time”? I could see his point. “But Gab I don’t know if I can keep this secret from Susan”. “You have to Daniel, no one else must find out for the time being. They will all find out when they are free, but it could put you all in danger if they find out now”. God, I don't like secrets. It's like a festering wound that never heals until you let it out.

When my littermates appear, they run to the O’Hare’s and they have the time of their lives, I’m kind of sulky, but I tamp down hard on my emotions. I can tell the time is getting close, when Gab gets up and walks over to them, he looks at the O'Hare's and says it is time. All my littermates give them hugs and kisses goodbye, and both of them get up and follow Gab. “Can I walk with you guys”, I ask? Gab motions me to walk with them. They are holding each other and crying as they walk towards the veil. As we are now far enough away from the others, I speak. “Thumper and Juniper, I will never let them forget you. I’m glad that you got to meet your kits, and know that they will be taken care of”. With this they stop and look at me, “you know who we are”? “Yes, I do Justin and Jenifer O’Hare”. “But how do you know”? “I’m not trapped like everyone else, I’m in Zootopia now”. “We wanted to see them grow up, we wanted to see their first school day, we wanted to see their prom, their first crush, we wanted to see their marriages to their loves, we are going to miss that”. “Well, part of that can come true”. “How is that”? “Susan is my love and I am hers". When they look back at the others, they can see them playing together. "Terry is Cindy's mate, Davis is Suzy's mate, Rick is Ava's mate”. “How do you know this”? I look at them and say, “we are all empaths, we speak to each other in thoughts and pictures, there is nothing hidden in our hearts, we see each other to our deepest roots. That is why we love each other”. “How can we believe you”?

“Think of something only the two of you would know”, they speak softly to each other and turn around and look at me. I start to laugh, “Oh, that's going to be a funny story to tell them later. You were being picked on as a kit when he stepped in and beat up the bullies who were picking on you. You thought of him afterwards as Thumper. But you became his shelter and helped him grow just like the juniper tree you planted in the courtyard”. “Wow, you got all that from us”? “Yes, thoughts can speak louder than words”. “And you are sure they are going to be safe”? “I give you my word”. With that Jenifer leans down and hugs me, “I'm glad I met you, Daniel”. I look at Justin, and he looks at me, with that “you better be right” look. “Daniel, I’m not an easy mammal to get along with, but I believe what you say, love my little girl as she deserves”, “I will sir”. With that, he leans down and hugs me as well. They both turn towards the veil, but Justin turns back towards me, “be wary of my brother Daniel, I believe he is responsible for our accident”. With that, they turn paw in paw and step through the veil.

As I turn back, Gab takes my shoulder. “That was well done Daniel, but you need to lock your feeling down before you go back to them”. With that, he walks off leaving me with my conflicted emotions. I tamp it down with everything I have learned about this, and when I have everything under control I head back. Susan meets me halfway back, I wrap her in my love, but she senses something is off. “Daniel, what is it”? “I can't tell you right now, but I will soon. Just know I love you deeply”. I can tell she’s not happy with this answer, but she accepts it as we kiss.

\----------

“Sir, we have a big development”. “What is it”? “The old computer that “N” was playing with stopped working, “O” took it apart, and rewired it. It now works better than ever. We have had reverse engineers look at it but they can’t figure out how it’s working. Also “N” appears to be using some sort of new computer language”. “New language”? “Yes Sir, as you know computers work on a binary system, 1’s and 0” s, well her system works on a trinary system. We have had some of our best programmers look at it, and they can’t make out heads or tails of it, or how it’s even working at all. “N” has even tried to explain how it works, but her explanations make no sense to us, also she has compressed the data in the old computer. "Doors 10" takes about 10GB of the hard drive, with her system it only takes 1GB of space, and it is faster, its load rate is nanoseconds, instead of the normal seconds”. “Can we exploit this new system”? “Not sure how Sir, we need to understand it, before we can exploit it”. “All right call in some more experts to study the computer and it's programming. I want you to take this old computer away, and give them a better one, still not tied to the mainframe. Take the old one and let them study it, maybe they can come up with something. Wouldn't that be great, a faster more powerful computer, and we would own it”. “Yes Sir”.

“Subject "J" searched the computer yesterday, looking for storm-related accident victims”. “Did he find any”? “Yes Sir, he found that a wolf had frozen to a park bench during the storm, but that wasn’t what he was interested in. He did find some auto accident victims, that happened just as the storm started”. “Do they have any connection to him”? “No Sir, it appears to be a random thing, the accident victims have since died”. “Should we be concerned that “J” has become a little morbid”? “I don't think so, he seemed to be more interested in their background than in the accident, sort of a mammal-interest kind of thing”. “All right continue as before”. (from the files found at the institute).

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	24. fight training 2

Well, life has moved on, it's now the beginning of June when we got to the DOJO, I could feel the excitement in the air. Things were way different today, there were more people in the DOJO. It almost looked like an open house. We went and changed, and returned to the mats. I noticed Student after Student pairing up with masters, then the student would fight another student of a different master. I was paired up with Mr. Delaront and fought another brown belt, who was bigger than me. What he had in height and weight, I made up for by being small and fast. We did fight to a draw. We bowed to each other as we both left the ring. I started to walk around and shake out the kinks as I didn’t want to stiffen up. Grandma was impressive, she fought her opponent to a draw as well. A gong was sounded, and we were given a small meal, water, and allowed to relax. After about an hour the fighting resumed. This time I was pitted against a black belt who was just a little bit taller than me. I knew this would be a challenge, and slipped into my primal brain, this was going to be a fight. I was not mistaken it was a real fight, but I could see the moves coming, and fought accordingly. The rules were changed about halfway through, a second person attacked from my backside. I felt them there and fought with all I had. They were a team and fought as such, but I could still see the moves coming. I fought them to a draw again, but I was finished. I barely had the strength to bow to the masters, and walk off the mat before collapsing on the floor beside grandma. The rest of the fights concluded, and again we were offered a second small meal with water. The masters went over to a corner and sat down and started to converse. I got up and started to walk around, I found I was already stiff, but I soon moved freely again as I continued to walk. After about ½ hour of talking the masters got up and came to the mats. We all stood up to face them. We bowed to each other. Two masters went away and came back with a rainbow assortment of belts. Everyone went up a color except Vivian and I. I could see the hurt in Vivian’s eyes as I was not offered a black belt, but it was ok. Then Oscar stood up and came to the center of the mat.

“Daniel, Step forward please”. I went forward with a little bit of trepidation. As I stood before Oscar, I could see I bit of a smile on his lips, and he was feeling very proud of me. “As you can see Gentle mammals, we have saved the best for last. This three-year-old has beaten some of you and fought the rest to a draw”. At the pronouncement of my age, there was a Sharpe intake of breath around the room. “In all good conscious Daniel, I can’t offer you a black belt, what I can give you is a double black belt. You fought two opponents at one time and fought them to a draw. You are the youngest member of this DOJO to receive this honor”. He then ties a wider black sash around me. the clapping starts shortly after this pronouncement. I bow to all the members, and bow to grandma, who has tears in her eyes.

“Vivian Wilde step forward”. Grandma gets this deer in the headlight's kind of look but does step forward. “As the oldest student we have ever trained, you have proven your worth. Your matches were not against brown belts as you thought, but both fighters were black belts. We did this because we could see the doubt you had in yourself. You were measuring yourself by what others thought not by what you could do. So, I present to you Vivian Wilde your black belt, you have earned it”. Again, there was clapping as Oscar ties her black belt around her. We then all bow to one another and head for the change rooms.

Grandma is still over the moon with what happened today. “Did you know what was going to happen today Daniel”? “No, grandma it was as big a surprise to me as it was to you”. “How could I be a black belt”? “Well, he did say that you doubted your abilities”. We both laugh. Later at home, we’re soaking in the tub, when I broach the subject that is on my mind.

“Grandma I think I’m going to have to go back to the institute”. “Daniel what are you saying”? “Grandma I’m going to have to let them think they kidnapped me”. “Why Daniel”? “Because we are going to need someone on the inside to pull this off, who better than me”? “What kind of help have you got”? “None at the moment, but I don’t want to start everything till shortly before it happens”. “When are you planning for this to happen”? “I figure the carrot day festival in Bunny Burrow, at the end of august, would be the perfect place for this to happen. Large crowds, lots of noise, and no one paying attention to one more kit running around”. “Your right that would be a good place. So, what kind of plan have you got so far”? “Well, first off, we will have to get mom and dad to let us go, second, they can’t know what’s happening. We need it to be believable, and I don’t think mom and dad can act that good as to make it believable”.

“You know they will be mad at you when they find out”? “They will be mad at both of us, but I know you can act the distraught guardian”. “Me”? “They won’t let me go alone, so I need you to come with me”. “Alright, I can see that, so what else have you got”? “Well DeDe has already hacked their mainframe, and can control the power grid, she would cut the power to allow the Z.CIA in”. “So, you will be contacting the Z.CIA”? “Yes, I feel there the group to have the least contact with the institute”. “So, how are you going to contact them, so the institute doesn’t find out”? “I believe chief Bogo might be able to help with that, he has to have some contact with them”. “But how are you going to contact the chief”? “Well, I figured I would present myself as a trainer to the ZPD”. “You would lie to him”? “Ah no, as a double black belt I can now train others”. “Wow, I did not know that”. “It’s in the charter of the DOJO but I will be responsible for the students I take on”. “So, when were you planning to contact the chief”? “Well I have to get mom and dad's approval first and I think that's going to be hard”. “Your right that could be very hard”.

So, grandma and I make a special meal tonight, for when mom and dad get home. As dad comes in the door, He exclaims, “wow it sure smells good in here, is there some sort of special occasion”? “Well, there is actually”, grandma says as they come in and sit down at the table. “So, what’s the special occasion, ma”? “We are celebrating the fact that I got my black belt today”. “Wow, I didn't know you had it in you”. “Well to tell you the truth, I didn’t know I had it in me either”. “So, Daniel, did you get your black belt today”? “No dad, I didn’t get a black belt today”. “Well, there's always next time”. “Ah, no dad, I didn’t get my black belt today, because I earned a double black belt”. “Wow now I'm impressed, what does that mean”?

“It means dad, that I can train others in the art”. “Daniel, you are only three, do you think others will listen to you”? “Not sure, how would you like some training”? “I would if it would help me keep up with your mother”. “Har, Har slick, you are to slow to keep up”. “Well we can’t do this here, I say, we need some kind of gym”. “The only gym I can think of is the gym at the precinct”. “That would be perfect, I say. "Is it not open to police officers and their families”? “We will look into it, but don’t get your hopes up”. “Well if it would help, you could tell chief Bogo, I offer my services for free”. “You would train police officers”? “Why not, if it stops them from getting hurt on the job, how can that be bad”? Grandma just looks over at me in wonder and just shakes her head. We firm up a plan to ask Bogo in the morning.

We all head down early to precinct 1 to talk to chief Bogo. “Morning spots”, says, dad. “Morning Ben," says mom. “Morning Mr. Clawhauser”. At this Ben lets out with a Squeal, “O.M.G. Daniel, I haven’t seen you in, like ages, how have you been”? “I’ve been fine," I say as I jump onto his desk. I give him a big hug and jump down. “And to you as well Vivian, good to see you”. “Hey spots, is the chief in”? “He got in a few minutes ago, go on up”. As we knock, we can’t help but remember what happened the last in his office. “Enter” was all we heard. As we all enter and close the door, I feel the chief is a bit surprised, but you would never know it by his facial expressions.

“So, what do I owe the pleasure of the Wilde’s in my office”? “Chief we're here to ask about the gym”. “The gym”? “Yes, is it open to all members and their families”? “It is, why do you ask”? “Well, we would like to use it for a little sparing, and some training”. “What kind of training”? “Well the kind we hope will help police officers from getting hurt on the job”. “I’m all for this, who would be this trainer”? “That would be me, Sir”.

The look on the chief’s face was priceless. Grandma just shakes her head. The chief bust out laughing, “oh good one Wilde, you had me going for a minute there”. “Ah Chief, this isn’t a joke, I’m being dead serious”. “I haven’t seen you in what 15 months, and you now think you are some sort of trainer”? “Yes Sir, I do”. Chief just laughs all the harder. But as he notices no one else is laughing, he soon sobers up. “What can you teach us, Daniel”? “Well Sir, I have a double black belt in a martial arts discipline from the Dojo down on 4Th and 29Th ave”. The chief raises an eyebrow, as he knows how exclusive that DOJO is. “Who trained you there”? “Mr. Oscar Delaront”. “And you wish to pass this knowledge on”? “I do sir, for the use of the gym”. “And you would train any officer regardless of size or strength”? “Yes sir, I would”. “This I’ve got to see;” he says as he gets up and we all head for the gym.

Grandma and I head for the locker rooms and change into our Karateka, then head into the gym. There are mats on most of the floor with a boxing ring on one side. Some weights are over by one wall, and a few treadmills line the window area. Grandma and I go to the center of the mats and go into our routine. As we finish, we have quite the crowd watching us. We bow to each other and head for the ring, once in the ring, we bow to each other and do a demonstration of fighting. After a few minutes, we break up, bow to each other, and exit the ring.

“Right Daniel, I can see you are not blowing smoke, but who would you choose to fight”? “It doesn’t matter chief you pick one”. “Fangmyer, front and center”. Fangmyer comes forward, “I want you to fight Daniel”. “But he’s just a kit sir”. “This kit says he can beat your butt in the ring, and I’ve got twenty that says Daniel wins”. Well, the betting went fast and furious with most of them betting on Fangmyer. As we got into the ring, I could see she was scared of hurting me, so I sent her a feeling of calm, and entered my fighting mind. We bow to each other and get into our stances. I can tell by her stance she is not well trained, she goes on the offensive and I just let her wear herself out, when she is just about done, I casually flip her over onto her back on the mat. This knocks the wind out of her, and she gives the tell. I just back up and bow to her. Everyone just claps and passes their money over to Bogo. “Well I say, the widows and orphan fund just got a boost today. Is there anyone else who would like to fight Daniel”? “I will”.

As we all look for who said that, mom hops into the ring. I'm a little nervous, as this is my mom, the bunny who knocked out a rhino at the academy and is the reigning champ at precinct-one. But she is my opponent, so I slip back into fighting mind. We begin to fight; I notice right away that mom does way too much bouncing and not enough flowing. But I know if her feet ever connected with me, I would be seriously hurt. She takes a lot of chances, and I use a few of them. Finally, she tries to come in from the side with a flying kick. With this, I drop under her and tip her just enough to start her tumbling. She lands hard on the mat and gives the tell. I rush over, “are you hurt mom”? “No Daniel, just my pride is wounded”. The clapping and cheering from the crowd were deafening. Chief Bogo walks over, “so when do you want to start training Daniel”? “Tuesdays and Thursdays and Saturday mornings, Saturday afternoons and Sundays are still my days off”. Chief raises an eyebrow, “Well chief I still train at the DOJO Monday Wednesday, and Fridays”.

\------------

“Well Sir, we now know what “J” has been learning at that DOJO, it seems he has become a good fighter. He just beat the two best cops in precinct 1 this morning”. “He beat them”? “Yes Sir, quite handily I might add”. “So, it’s going to be harder to reacquire him”? “Yes Sir, I might suggest we try to trank him from a distance and then just scoop him up”. “Yes, I can see the logic in that”. “Also, the grandmother is a black belt herself”. “So, what your saying is we either have to trank them both or separate them”. “I’m afraid so, Sir”. “Boy, this just gets harder and harder. Do we have any good news”? 

“Yes Sir, our quarterly report says we have earned A whopping 4.5-million on investments”. “Wow, that is good. Is this all due to subject "L"? “Yes Sir, he is a financial genius”.

“How about "N" and "O"? "O" has built the next computer, and "N" has now programmed it, it is even faster than the last one”. “Any luck at reverse-engineering the old one, or the programming”? “No Sir, it stubbornly refuses to give up its secrets. We have a few language experts who think this new operating system is a language all on its own, but no concrete ideas on how to translate it”. “Well keep trying, I want to know what it is”. (from the files found at the institute).

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	25. Z.CIA contact

With training comes a new day. Mom and dad were the first ones to start training with me. Soon we had an audience watching us, some even started to do our isometrics with us, as people started to follow us, I would correct them as needed. Some caught on fast, and others dropped out when they saw us exercising and not fighting. This took us down to the end of June, I now felt it was wise to start the plan to free my littermates.

Chief Bogo would come in and watch us for a bit, then go to his office. I waylaid him one morning and asked if I could speak to him in the locker room. We went into the locker room, I immediately put a finger to my lips in a shushing move. The Chief raises an eyebrow but says nothing. I go to my locker and produce a surveillance countermeasure and plug it into a wall outlet. “We can now speak freely chief; all recording devices have been neutralized”. “Daniel, what’s going on”? “Chief I need your help, I need to contact the Z.CIA”. “The Z.CIA, what do you need them for”? “I need them for a rescue mission”. “What kind of rescue mission”? “Sir, you remember how I came into your lives”? Bogo just shakes his head yes. “Well sir, I need to rescue all my littermates from the institute where they are being held”. With this the Chief sits down hard on the bench, the bench lets out with a groan at the sudden weight. “Daniel, are you trying to tell me there are more of you”? “Yes Sir, I have three siblings, and four littermates”. With this, he puts his hoof to his forehead and starts to rub. “Do your parents know”? “No Sir, they don’t know, and they need to be kept in the dark”. “Why”? “Sir I know my parents would do something foolish, and I don’t want to lose them”. Bogo just shakes his head to the affirmative. “All right Daniel, when do you need them here”? “Thursday, during practice would be the ideal time”. “All right, I will see what I can do”.

On Thursday I bring in the portfolio with all the pictures of the institute building, and personal. As we start our routine, a striped hare and a white vixen walk into the room. They watch for a bit and the white vixen comes and joins us in the routine. We all bow to each other and I head for the ring. No one wants to challenge me this morning except mom. As we fight, I notice mom is getting better, but I still put her down to the mat. As we bow to each other, the white vixen joins us in the ring. Mom steps out. I notice that the vixen had stripped down to her underwear, and was being ogled by most of the males in the room. We bow to each other and begin to fight. Wow, she was fast and quick. But she had a flaw, in her fighting, she hesitated before each move as if to decide which one to use. I took advantage of that and switch my move just as she committed to her own. I hit her harder than I intended. And she flew into the ropes. She came back immediately. I kept switching my moves, every time she committed to one. And I hit her hard more than once. After the last hit, she gives the tell, and I back off and bow to her.

“Daniel, can we have a word with you in my office”? says chief Bogo. “Yes sir. As soon as I change”. I have a quick shower and wait outside the locker room door for grandma. She comes out with the white vixen, a few minutes later, and we head for the chief's office. Before we can knock, we hear the word "enter". We go in and shut the door. I immediately go and plug in my counter-surveillance measures. "All right, everyone we can talk freely".

“What did you plug into the wall asks the hare”? “The next generation of countermeasures, if you have the first generation in your pocket you will notice that the indicator lights will be flashing green red”. He pulls a small device out of his pocket and shows everyone that it is indeed flashing red and green. “How did you know”? “My littermate designed the first one”. I then reach into my portfolio and hand him a schematic drawing of the device. “This is his design, and it has a built-in flaw, he designed it that way so he could get everyone’s attention”. I then hand him a second schematic drawing of the device I had plugged into the wall. “As you can see this one is based on the first one, but it is better than the first one”. “This is very impressive, how long has this person been designing electronics”? “About one-year sir”. “You know this design could be worth millions”? “Yes sir, it could, but it is useless without the programming”. “And why is that”? “The programming is based on a trinary computer language; binary computer language will not operate it”. “Who designed the computer language”? “My sister Ava, Sir”.

“We are done here Chief; I don’t appreciate this joke”. As the hare gets up to go, I hit him hard with a compulsion. “SIT DOWN SIR”. He sits down hard and looks at me with surprise. “I guess we should start again. Hi, my name is Daniel J. Wilde what’s yours”? He looks at me kind of strangely, “my name is Jack Savage”, “and my name is Cynthia Skye Walker, good to meet you, Daniel”. “Good to meet you both, now should we get down to why I need your help”?

“Daniel, what did you do to me”? “I hit you with a compulsion sir, I have control of my emotions and can project them as well, I just made you want to stay”. “That you certainly did, can you do other things”? “Yes Sir, I can read other emotions around me, and can even get pictures of what someone is thinking, and before you ask, no I can't read minds. But I am, really, good at reading emotions around me”. “Can you demonstrate something else about your abilities”? “If it would help you to believe yes, I can”. He nods his head yes. “All right I apologize to everyone in advance, this may be a little rough”. I go to my primal brain, and for two seconds project savageness to him. Everyone in the room backs up from me except grandma. He can see my slitted eyes and feel how dangerous I am, I then continue the conversation with him. “So, do you believe in what I say Jack, or do I need to demonstrate some more”?

“No Daniel, you have proven your point, how old are you”? “Chronological or physical”? Still, with slitted eyes, I answer him. “I am a few weeks over three years of age, but my mental age is approximately a twenty-two-year-old”. “Could you change your eyes back please, it's kind of unnerving”! “Oh right, sorry”. “Daniel, how can you do that”? “Sir, I am what I call a complete brain, I am in control of all aspects of my body and brain, and can probably fake death, but I have never tried. I have no ego, but I do have a conscious and I think before I do everything”.

“Is that why you fight so well”? “It could be, there is no lag between thinking of a move and doing it, whereas I could see the lag as you thought about your next move when fighting me”. “Daniel, I am the best fighter at the Z.CIA, and have held that title for four years now, and you are telling me I was beaten by a three-year-old”? “Ah, Yes”. “Who Trained you”? “Mr. Delaront was my teacher”. “I know him, tell snowflake I said hi”. “Can we get back to the mater at hand”? “Right Jack”, said Skye.

“So, Daniel what do you need our help for”? “Jack, I need the Z.CIA to raid a building about two hours away from here, and get my littermates out of their captivity”. With this, I pull out my portfolio. “I have detailed drawing of the building, compound, camera placement, possible weak points, personal, and I can even tell you what kind of armament they have”. “Daniel, I’m impressed where did you get all this information”? “This information comes from my sibling and littermates. Jack before you ask, let’s just say it is all part of our abilities”. Skye takes the drawings and starts to study them.

“Oh Jack, we will not change one form of captivity for another, no matter how gilded a cage, it will still be a cage. We will however work with Z.CIA as long as we are not judge, jury, or executioner. If you help us now, we will help you later, but not at the expense of our freedom”. “I can see that; how will you live”?” I believe that my brother has built up a nice nest egg for us all. And our littermates, Once identified they have their own money to play with”. “Identified”? “Yes Jack, they are their parent's children, but a DNA test will have to be performed to prove it”. “How could he have built a nest egg”? “They have allowed him to be a day-trader for awhile now, and the last quarterly earnings for the institute I believe was about 5 million dollars, they only started him off with a thousand dollars. He has been paying himself a fee to a different account and playing that account as well. The last numbers I got, oh wait, I'll just get the new ones”. I stare off into space for about five seconds, “right the latest figure as of 5 seconds ago was 2.5 million dollars”. “You can communicate with them”? “Yes Jack, I can. Right now, they are all listening in on this conversation, and agree with everything I have said”.

“Do you know how valuable an asset you are”? “Yes Jack, but we are only valuable as a family group. If we are split up or forced under pain, you will get nothing. And we can defend ourselves. Like I said we are willing to work with you”.

“Skye, what does it look like to you”? “Well Jack, it is very doable but we might lose some personal”. “How many”? “Estimated 10% loss”. I interrupt, “if the power was cut just as you were to go in, and the backup generator didn't work, would that cut the losses”? “Yes, it would”. “What would our numbers be then”? “Virtually 0 Jack”. “Can you do this”? “Yes, I can. But I will have to do it from the inside”. “How do you propose to get back in”? “I will let them kidnap me at the carrot day festival in august”.

“This would be the perfect cover for you, Jack. You can seem to get involved in the kidnapping”. “And why would we do that”? “Think of the headlines Jack, Z.CIA rescues the son of Nick and Judy, the hero cops of the night howler incident”. “Well I have to admit that sounds good, but how do we know they will kidnap you”?” Jack, they have wanted me back since I was taken away from them. Vivian and I will make sure they take the bait, or in this case, me”.

“I noticed that you have not been startled by any of this Vivian, what do you know”? I have known most of this since Daniels auto accident, Though the savage thing was as hard now as the first time, but not unexpected. I have met all my grand kits and their mates”. “Mates”? “Oh, sorry littermates”. “You’ve met them”? “Uh, Jack, let's just say it's all part of my abilities, and leave it at that”. “How do I know this is not some sort of mind control”? “Jack, do you believe you have that weak a mind, that someone else can control you”? Skye lets out a snort, and Jack just glares at her. “All right, I will concede that point”.

“So, if we have more questions? You know where I live Jack. Oh, don’t call the house, or stop by, the phone is bugged, and there are cameras and microphones in our house. Vivian and I are followed most everywhere we go, so it can’t be a casual meet up. The precinct is probably the best place to ask questions of us. We do have a person on the inside that can handle computers, DeDe is trying to write a program so she can communicate with the outside world. she is the surrogate mother to all of us. We need to rescue her too”. “And what is this person’s name”? “We know her as DeDe, but her full name is Diane Demetri, she’s a rabbit like my mom”. “Will we have to get her from somewhere else in the building”? “No Jack. She will be in the same room as the rest of us. You might want to bring clothes for all of us. As they keep us naked all the time, I think this is so we wouldn’t run away. There are four bunny girls, one bunny guy, one adult female bunny, and three foxes including me”.

“Chief, I noticed you haven’t said anything, do you have anything to add”? “Daniel, this is so strange and new, I’m having a hard time taking it all in”. “It's ok chief, it was a kind of bombshell. But when it gets to the kidnapping, can you play your part? You will have to request the Z.CIA to search for me, as this will be out of your jurisdiction”. “I can do that”. “And can you play the stern no-nonsense chief who wants the best for his officers”? “Daniel, I’ve had years of practice at that, but I’ll tell you some mornings your dad, with his antics, has me almost laughing at him. He is very good for morale, But”, the smile then disappears from his face, “if you ever tell him that I said that, I will deny it”. I just laugh.

“Jack you can take this new countermeasure back with you. Have your tech boys’ study it, I had it made for about 40:00 dollars, so the components are readily available, the programing I can’t give you, so get them to try not to erase it. I don’t think you can copy it, but you never know”.

“Skye if you show up once a week for sparing, the institute will get the idea I am training you, and it won’t look unusual for you to be seen talking to me”. “Good idea Daniel, we will do that”. “We”? “Yes, Jack, you need a different sparring partner, you are becoming to use to my moves. And I'm sure that Daniel can teach you a move or two”. “Why do I feel like the preverbal chicken in the hen house, who just saw a fox walk in the door”? I hold up my hands at a forty-five-degree angle and just go, "Rorrwa".

\----------

“Sir, slight worry”. “What’s got you all concerned”? “The Z.CIA came to the precinct today, and were talking to Daniel”. “Why should that be a concern"? "Daniel just beat the best fighter in the Z.CIA, in the ring, and have asked him for more pointers. From our informant, They will be showing up once a week for sparing practice”. “Do you think that’s a good idea, him having contact with the Z.CIA”? “I don’t see a problem, as long as they’re not talking about us”.

“We also may have an opportunity to get subject “J” back”. “How’s that”? “Well, he asked his parents if he could go to the Bunny Burrow festival this August, and they were reluctant, but they did say yes in the end”. “Oh, what a golden opportunity, the crowds, the noise, the chaos. We could get close enough to him that no trank gun will be needed”. “We figured that we could walk up to both of them, trank them, and then just carry them towards the first aid station”. “I like it, plain and simple. Ok, take a team, and train with that goal in mind. One fox, No other predators, they would look out of place at a bunny festival”.

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	26. Abduction

So, here it is about a week before the start of the carrot festival, and I’m learning to be a carrot farmer. It seems all of the rabbits in the burrow helped with the harvest, except for those who watched the younger ones. Vivian volunteered to be one of the watchers and I was elected to be a picker. Now I’m no stranger to workouts, but this job worked a whole new set of muscles I had never worked before. I now could see how mom had such strong leg muscles, when you pick carrots you grab onto them with your paws, and not using your back muscles or your arm muscles push up with your legs. This in effect pulls the carrot out of the ground. I found it was the most efficient use of energy. But it sure did work those leg muscles.

After picking a carrot I would drop it on the ground, or if a basket was close by, I would drop it into the basket. Any that were dropped on the ground, were picked up by younger bunnies and put into baskets. The adults would put down empty baskets and pick up the full ones. As we were in a very temperate zone, carrots could be grown all year round. As we pulled the field empty, adults behind us would plow, rake, and fertilize the field, and plant carrot seeds. This was a very efficient way to farm. On average it took us about 6 hours to pick a field clean. We were then free to do what we wanted for the rest of the day.

On the first day, I missed breakfast, so I was hungry when I finally got to the field. (I didn't know about the second kitchen). When I pulled my first carrot and stuck it in my mouth, I got some strange looks, but when I started to eat it, I got even stranger looks. I guess no one figured out that I was a vegan, they were expecting me to eat bugs, or worms even. (how revolting).

In the afternoon I work on my pictures of farming practices. Picking of carrots, plowing the field, pumping water. Yes, they still had an old fashion pump for washing the carrots. I could tell, you would never get fat working on a carrot farm. I even draw some pictures of the kits at play. Some times I even join them in play. The first time I did my exercises, I had the kerfuffle stare at me oddly. They watched as grandma and I did the forms. Some even used us as climbing posts, talk about distraction. After a few days, some started to emulate us, so I started to teach them the isometric forms. They were easy to teach, and a lot of fun too.

Finally came the week of the fair, we still had farm work, but Stu decided we would all go to the fair on Thursday. This worked for me, the watchers (there were six of them) had been watching all week for a chance to grab me, but no opportunities presented its self. Now you would think it would be hard to get us all there, wrong, Stu made a train out of the wagons and the tractor, and got everyone that wanted to go, to the fair, there in one shot. It was big and long, but there was a parking lot strictly for trains. By far Stu’s train was the longest.

This was exciting for me I had never been to a fair before. The sights, the smells, the rides, the games. We wandered the fair, grandma, and I was taking it all in. As the family dispersed, grandma and I became more isolated. I won a few prizes at the games and went on one ride before they moved in. I gave grandma the signal that they were coming. We deliberately made sure none of the family was around us, so we would be very tempting targets. As far as their plans went, it was perfect for them. At the last-minute grandma turned as the pig put the trank in her neck. At the same time, she punched him in the nose. I heard his nose go crunch, as Vivian hit him. Blood blossomed everywhere, the trank entered my neck, and I kicked the mammal who did it, shame I didn't break it, but I was told that he limped for days. They then handed me off to a fox. It didn’t look weird that a fox would have a fox kit sleeping on his shoulder. As they made their way out of the fair with me, no one questioned them. They all piled into the van they were driving and left the fair. The pig had dragged grandma behind one of the washrooms and left her there.

Vivian came to and looked around for me. “Daniel, she cried. Have you seen my grandson”? She asked several people; they all just shook their heads no. Eventually, word got to the fair security, and Grandma was escorted to the security kiosk. She was frantic by this time. (she was playing her part well). Security searched the fair, as word got back to Stu. Stu and family then helped in the search.

Head of security, the Sheriff of Bunny Burrow, looked at Vivian and asked, “what happen”? Vivian looked at the mammal, “I was tranked you moron, Daniel was abducted”. “How do you know he was abducted”? “He is a special kit; he is a fox and bunny hybrid. He was running away from some people when he was found the first time”. Upon hearing this security went into high gear. “Who’s manning the north gate”? “I believe that would be Kevin, Sir”. He then picks up the radio, “Kevin, Come in Kevin”. “What’s up Sheriff”? “Has a fox kit left the fairgrounds”? “Not under his power, he was being carried by a tod sir”. “Don’t you think it’s a little early for a kit to be worn out”? “Now that you mention it…” “Can you describe the tod”? “Not really sir, he was just your average tod, but come to think of it chief, I did notice that the kit seemed to be limp in his arms, but the strangest thing was I could have sworn the kit had rounded ears”. “Daniel”, screams Vivian as she faints away. “Kevin, did you get the plate number by chance”? “Ah, no chief I didn't see anything I thought would warrant a second look. It was a white van they drove away in though”. “Ok, thanks Kevin”.

Vivian wakes up and starts to cry. “Can you describe Daniel for us”? “Daniel is about 2 feet tall, orange and grey colored, with bunny feet, and rounded ears, he also has a bunny style nose”. “All right people we have an abduction, I want all roads out of the Burrows blocked and all-white vans searched”. “On it chief”. “Don’t worry ma’am, we will find him”. “Oh, I have to tell him, parents”. “Well let's not get too hasty at this point, we will get them”. “No, I don’t believe you will”. With this Vivian pulls out her phone and calls her son.

Nick and Judy were having an average day when the call came in. “Hi mom, how’s the fair going”? “Whoa slow down mom. WHAT”? “All right we will be there as soon as we can. Judy, I have to call the chief, Daniel's been abducted”. Chief Bogo had been expecting the call, but it still came as a shock when it arrived. “What’s this about an abduction Wilde”? “Chief, Daniel has been taken from the fair in Bunny Burrow”. “That’s out of our jurisdiction what can I do”? “Chief can you call someone? We need more help than the local sheriff can supply”. “I can call the Z.CIA, but no guarantee that they will get involved”. “Please chief, can you call? Any help would be better than none”. “All right, I’ll call”. “Thanks, Chief”. “Oh, Wilde’s I know I won’t get any work out of you, so take the cruiser to Bunny Burrow, but no lights or siren, got it”? “Thanks, Chief, we owe you”. “Damn right you owe me, you will have to make up the shifts you miss”. “Got it, and thanks again”. The chief picks up his phone and dials a rabbit’s number. “It’s on”, is all he says.

Judy drives as fast as the law will allow and they arrive in Bunny Burrow about two hours later. They find the command post has been set up at the Hopps farm. As they come into the yard, Vivian rushes to them. she had been waiting for them. She breaks down as she hugs Nick, “I’m sorry, so sorry, I could not protect him”. “Slow Down mom, just tell us what happened”. So, Vivian tells about being tranked and breaking the nose of the pig who did it. “Good one”, said Judy. But she can’t tell them more as she was out. Stu and Bonnie come out of the burrow and hug Nick and Judy. “We’ll get him back guys I know we will”. “Do you have any recent picture of Daniel”? asks the sheriff as he walks over. Nick pulls out his wallet and hands the sheriff a picture of Daniel.

“Well my word, Judy Hopps, what brings you here”? “The abduction of my son, Sheriff”. “Your son”? “Yes, sheriff the abduction of Nick and I’s son”. “He’s your son”? “Yes, sheriff he is, by now you know he is a hybrid, a bunny, and a fox hybrid. And it's Judy Wilde sheriff, as of three and a half years ago”. “You married a fox”? “He's not just any fox, he is Nick Wilde, my partner, and mate”. “I'm sorry guys I didn't mean any offense, it's just interspecies relationships don't happen too much out here”. “Well get used to it sheriff, it's happening more often than you think”.

Just at this moment a car comes screaming in the drive and comes to a gravel grinding halt. Peter jumps out of the car and runs to embrace Vivian. Vivian and Peter kiss and embrace. “I told you sheriff it’s happening more often than you think”. Judy and Nick walk over and embrace them both. “God guys, I came as soon as I heard. Have you found anything”? “Sorry, Peter we just got here ourselves”. “Are you hurt Vivian”? “No Peter, they just tranked me, but I did break the nose of the pig who did it”. “Way to go love”.

“All right people settle down, the clocks ticking we have approx. 52 hours to get into position as the power to the compound will be cut at 22:00 on Saturday night, these are the mammals we are there to rescue”. He hands out copies of my drawing of my siblings, DeDe, and me. “Try to save as much information as you can from the compound. Also, we have two cheetahs of interest, please try not to kill them. Everyone else is fair game”.

\----------

“How did everything go”? “Splendidly Sir, we got “J” and got away with minor injuries”. “Minor injuries”? “Yes Sir, Snouts got his Snout broken”, “you've wanted to use that for a long time, haven't you”? “Yes Sir, it is kind of fun”. “And Harry got a greenstick fracture of his tibia, he was still able to walk away, but he was in a lot of pain”. “Have "J" put back with the others, and resume normal operations”. “Very good, Sir”. (from the files of the institute)

\----------

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> more feed back would be appreciated


	27. Freedom

I swim to consciousness very slowly and just lay there with my feelers out. But how can I possibly fool another empath? Susan hugs me and cuddles into me, and I wrap my arms around her. glad to see you awake Daniel, “I’ve missed you”. I just nibble her neck, and she lets out a squeal. With that, I am dogpiled on by everyone. We all link, and I explain what is happening. They all get excited, but this could be written off as excitement at me being back. We all agree that we would only tell DeDe a few hours before the time came. DeDe came over and looking at me, “I’m sorry you were dragged back Daniel, but I am glad to see you”, with this she hugs me. “Love you too DeDe”, I respond as I hug her back.

As we still need to stay in character, I am bombarded by questions about the outside world. I answer all the questions as truthfully as I can until the instructors come in to give us lessons. Terry is taken away to do his day trading, and Ava and Rick are taken to their workbench along one wall. Terry is the only one to leave the room. “What day is it, I ask DeDe”? “Its Friday, why”? “Because I was tranked on Thursday about 13:00. So that means I slept all of yesterday and part of today”? “I’m afraid so Daniel, they were getting concerned when you didn’t wake up earlier”. “Well, I'm awake now”. “It was kind of cute to see you all sleeping together again”, says DeDe. “Don’t call us cute” came the response from all the bunnies. We all just laugh.

“Well, sheriff what have you found out”? “Not much I’m afraid. We had a white van go through Bunny Burrow, but all we could find out was it was heading east”. “What’s east of here”? “Not much a few small towns and more farms, that’s about it”. Judy hits the desk in frustration. Nick grabs her, “calm down Judy, we’ll find him”. At this, she turns around, and clutching Nick, starts to cry. “Nick, we lost him, I knew this would happen, no sooner do we find him, and then we lose him”. “It’s not all gloom and doom fluff, we’ll get him back”. “I hope your right Nick, I miss him and his wicked sense of humor”. “Course I’m right, You bunnies, so emotional”. “Just tell me I’m not the only one”, with that Nick holds her at arm's length and looks down at her, Judy looks up at the tears in his eyes, “no Judy, you are not the only one”.

Saturday we were all on pins and needles, we just wanted this to end. By supper time we were so wound up, I'm surprised that we weren't bouncing off the walls. DeDe was relaxing in her favorite chair and just about to fall asleep. I linked with her and brought us to the meadow. “Wake up DeDe”, I said shaking her shoulder. As she wakes up, Gab walks over. “Ah, so is tonight the night”? “Yes, Gab it is”. “Hello DeDe, you probably have a few questions”. “Where am I”? “in the meadow”, Gab and I say at the same time. “Ok, I can see that this is a meadow, but where is this meadow”? “Why the meadow is halfway between dreams, and the waking world", reply’s Gab. "Daniel, you should really fill people in before you bring them”. I just shrug.

“DeDe" I ask, "would you like to get out of the institute”? “Yes Daniel, I would like my freedom, but what’s the cost”? “The only cost is you will have to cut the power to the complex. Can you do this”? “Daniel, I have been waiting for this for a while, but we couldn’t escape on our own. Do we have outside help”? “Yes, we do. You need to cut the power at exactly 10:pm tonight, is that possible”? “Done”. “DeDe can you follow my orders”? “Yes, Daniel I can”. “Let us do the fighting, please follow my orders and all will be well”. “But what will happen to us”? “We are going to my parents, and I think they have other plans for you”. At this DeDe starts to cry. “Don't Cry DeDe we will all meet again if you just follow your heart”. I then take us back to the institute. DeDe just wakes with a start and looks over at me. We all look at her and nod our heads yes. She starts to cry but nods her head yes too.

“Alright team, crackles the radio, T minus 1 min to extraction”, “do we have a go”? “You have a go”. The lights then go out on the complex, “GO”! As the power goes out, the emergency lights come on. “DeDe" I shout "flip the bed up, and get behind it”. Everyone gets behind the bed except Susan and I, we stand on either side of the door. We can hear paw pads running for the door. As the door opens Susan and I hit the Guard from both sides. He goes down like a sack of potatoes, the second guard is so surprised he reacts slowly and I grab the trank gun from the first guards paw and trank the second guard. Susan then grabs the second gun, and we sprint back to the bed. The rest of the fight we are not involved with we just wait for our help. A tach team member comes in the door, “mountain sheep” I holler, “mountain goat” he says. He then lowers his gun and picks up his radio. “Team leader, I have the targets, waiting for extraction”. “Sit tight we are having a little trouble over here”. “Roger team leader”. He then turns, going to one knee brings up his gun, and aims at the door he had just come in. We wait for what seems like forever, but in truth is no more than 10 min. “Johnson where are you”? “Hallway nine-b third door”. “Right be there shortly”.

Jack is a sight for sore eyes, but Skye is all decked out in tack gear, holding her gun up with the butt resting on her belt. “Team leader, we have neutralized all hostels, I repeat we have neutralized all hostels”. Skye keys her mic “Roger, team 1 standby, can we have the power back on please”? DeDe goes to her computer and enters a few keystrokes and the main lights come back on. We all come out from behind the bed and look at Jack. “So, who do we have here”? “Jack I would like you to meet my brother Terry, my brother Davis, and my sister Ava. And Cuddled up close to me is Susan, Davis has his arms around Suzie, Terry is holding Cindy’s paw, and Ava is holding Ricks paw”. “It’s a pleasure to meet you all. Come, we have a mobile command unit outside; where you can warm up and get dressed”.

It takes most of the night to straighten out the mess. The big boss had an escape helicopter on the roof, that we didn’t know about. He got away before they could break into his office. So, he flew away unhindered. We got dressed in the command center, and some DNA swabs were taken of all of us. The computer Ava had used and any drawings of schematics were confiscated by the Z.CIA. They then put DeDe in a car and drove her away. We all had tears in our eyes, as she left. Dawn was breaking as we were ushered into a van, and driven home.

Nick and Judy had spent a fitful night trying to sleep, they laid most of the night in each other arms and cried. They both fell asleep just before dawn, which made the phone ringing all the more Jarring. “Hello”? answered dad. “Hi dad, just wanted to let you know I’m ok, and should be there in about an hour”. “Daniel? O.M.G. Daniel, where are you”? At the mention of my name, Judy sits up in bed, and pulls the phone away from nicks ear, to listen in as well. “Like I said I’m ok, the Z.CIA rescued me from the institute. We should be there with in the hour”. “Do you know how worried we are”? “Yes, I can feel it, but all will be explained when we get there”. “Get here soon we miss you”. “Will do”, with that I hang up the phone. “You’re not going to tell them”? “Nah, I have a wicked sense of humor, remember”? Everyone laughs.

Nick and Judy hop out of bed and get dressed in a hurry. Then they knock on Peter and Vivian’s door and tell them Daniel would be there shortly. They rap on Stu and Bonnies' door to give them the good news. The adults then meet in the small kitchen for coffee. “Somethings up I can just feel it", says Nick. "He was just to damn cheerful, for someone who had just been released from captivity”. Through it all Vivian had just sat quietly, drinking her coffee. Nick notices his mom and her look. “Ok, mom spill it, you know something”. “Not my place to tell son, but your answers just started up the drive”. “Mom, How”? “They are just about here; do you want to go out and meet them”?

I can see as we drive up dad and mom sprint from the house. The van comes to a stop, and I jump out the back door and run into their embrace. “Mom, dad I’m sorry, I know how much you worried, but I couldn’t tell you. And I’m sorry for the shock you are about to receive, Mom, Dad I would like to introduce you to my sibling Terry, Davis, and Ava”. They come in at this point and hug them as well. Bonnie and Stu stood there with shocked looks on their faces while Vivian leans down and hugs Susan, Cindy, Suzie, and Rick. “Oh, it’s so good to finally meet you guys in person”. “Mom, Dad, I’d also like you to meet our mates Susan Cindy Suzie and Rick”. With that, we all come together as a family unit.

“Listen, guys" breaks in Jack, I hate to break up this family reunion, but we need to debrief everyone”. Mom and Dad still have stunned looks on their faces as they stand up. Nick looks over at his mom, and asks, “you knew about this didn’t you mom”. “Yes, son I did”. “And you didn’t tell us”? “Not my place to say this is Daniel's Story”. “Wait a minute", Nick says as he turns back to me. "Mates? You are Mated”? We all fall down laughing, I just smile. There's that wicked sense of humor again. “No, Dad we are mates not mated, our bodies are too young for mating”. Mom and Dad both blush at this. “Uhm, could we get back to debriefing"? Jack turns to Bonnie and Stu, "do you have a small room we could use for the debriefing”? “Oh, right, right, come this way says, Stu”. We all follow him into the burrow.

Stu leads us all to their private kitchen. Bonnie putters around the kitchen making breakfast and Judy helps her. Once everyone has coffee or juice in front of them, we start our story. I tell most of what I had written down here. All the things about the case. From time to time Dad looks over at his mom.

But what got the most attention was when I told them about the surveillance. “Daniel, are you saying we were being watched”? “Yes dad, they were still studying me”. Jack just laughs, “Yes, they were studying you, but for the last month, they have only been getting what we wanted them to have. We have also captured the van and personal watching you”.

Mom asks a question; “do you have two cheetahs in custody”? “Well we did capture two cheetahs’, but they claim that they were new hires”. “Jack, can you transfer them to the ZPD”? “I can why”? “We are looking for two cheetahs involved in a fatality in Central square, tied to Daniel”. “What makes you think that they will talk”? “I can make them talk, and I don’t have to be in the room to do it”. “Daniel, remember your promise”? “I will not be judge jury or executioner, all I will do is simply make them uncomfortable enough to confess, or I can tell you when their lying, that wouldn’t be breaking my promise would it”? “Ask Gab first, before you try it”. “Yes, I will”. So, we all continue with our stories, when Jack gets a phone call. “Jack here? Well, that's different, contact the lawyer handling the case and sent him out here, better yet fly him out here, Yes on my authority”. Jack then hangs up his phone.

“Well it seems you were right Daniel, your littermates are in the system, well actually their parents were. The lawyer handling the estate should be here in about an hour. Nick, Judy, Daniel was right again, Terry Davis, and Ava, are your kits and his siblings”. “Jack, how did you get confirmation so soon”? “The Z.CIA has access to our labs, and I just gave it priority one designate. I'm sure we can get corroborating evidence from the institute”.

“Daniel, do you know who are parents are”? “Yes, Susan I do know who your parents were". I hold up my paw, "when the lawyer gets here, I will come clean at that point”. “Daniel, does this have something to do with that secret you have been keeping”? “Yes, it does love”. I just hang my head.

“Daniel, why did you call Susan, love”? asks mom. “Because she is my love mom, I will want no one else but her. I told you we are mated”. “Well, bonded would probably be a better word", says Susan. "I have the same kind of bond with Daniel, as you have with dad. If you like we can show you this”. “You have got to admit this is all kind of strange”. “Only to those who haven’t grown up with it. Daniel and I have shared this bond since we were born. Would you guys like to see your bond”? “No Susan that won’t be necessary, I am well aware of my bond with…your father”. Susan and I just hug them both. “Do the rest of you have this bond as well”? They just nod their heads yes. “We also have a bond with each other, I could no more hurt my brother, as he could hurt me. When I broke my arm, if I had not been knocked out first, they would have grabbed their own arms, with sympathetic pain, and the institute would have known that we were linked. They looked long and hard for this link but we managed to keep them in the dark”.

Peter who had been sitting in the back spoke up. “Guys, I hear what you are saying but, I’m having a hard time believing it. You would have to be using more of your brains than most mammals”. “I’ve got this one Guys”, says Davis. Davis and Peter go to the other side of the room and start talking about medical stuff. The rest of us just eat breakfast and watch. After a bit, Davis comes back, “Daniel I need you to do a little demonstration with me”. “What kind of demonstration”? “I think a blindfold and a deck of cards will do. We are going to do a magic show”.

Stu gave us a deck of cards, and I grab a tea towel, “make it two Daniel”. We take two chairs to the center of the room and sit facing away from each other. “No Daniel put them side by side. Now Peter I want you to go to the corner and face it. Daniel, tie the blindfold around your eyes and sit in the chairs with me”. We sit down in the chairs, “ah, guys are not one of you going to look at the cards”? “No Peter, you will be our eyes we will just call out the cards you look at. Now shuffle the card until you are satisfied, they are truly mixed up, tell us when you are ready”. We all link together, “they're shuffled”, “all right let’s begin”. Peter looks at the first card. “Ace of diamond" we all say, there are shocked looks all around the table. Peter goes through the whole deck, without a single mistake from any of us. He is visible shaken by our little demonstration. “I would not believe it if I hadn't seen it. Are there other things you can do”? “Yes, Peter there is, but I don’t think we have time the lawyer is here”.


	28. The Lawyer

Rocky Martin had been sleeping soundly dreaming about a vacation he was going to take someday; he had been having this off and on for a few years now. And in the dream, he was walking a sandy beach with another’s paw in his paw. this was the first time he saw the person walking with him. She was a beautiful rabbit. Rabbit? He didn’t even like rabbits, but he just went with the flow. As they walked, they talked, but he could not remember what they talked about, but her paw in his just felt right. She let go of his paw and started to run down the beach. He chased her down the beach and caught her just before the high-water mark, as they fell to the ground, he kissed her. He was awakened from this dream with a loud banging on his door.

Who the hell could that be this early on a Sunday morning? “Yes, Yes, I'm coming". Rocky walks to his front door. "Who are you and, what do you want”? “Mr. Martin are you Mr. Martin”? “Yes, I’m Mr. Martin, what do you want”? “Mr. Martin, we need you to come with us, Sir we are the Z.CIA”. “Badges, I need to see some ID”. Both persons standing at the door flashed their badges at the peephole. Rocky kept his hand on the bat he keeps behind the door and opened the door. Both men just stood there, not advancing to come in. “What’s so damn important you have to roust me out of sound sleep at, looking at his watch, he exclaims, 7:30, you woke me up at 7:30 on a Sunday”? “Sir we need to speak to you on a very important mater”. “Fine, call my office tomorrow”. “Sir, may we come in for a moment”? Rocky looks them up and down, opens the door, and steps back. “All right what is about”? “Sir, you had some client’s that died about 9 months ago. A Mr. and Miss O’Hare”? “Yes, what about them”? “Is the will still in contention”? “Yes, it is, Larry O’Hare has been fighting me all the way, but I won’t give in to him”. “And does their will still state that the estate was to go to their children”? “Yes, it does”. “Mr. Martin, we have their children”.

“Oh, my God, they did have children”? “Yes Sir, four of them”. “Where did you find them”? “Sir we can’t discuss this here we need you to come with us”. “All right, wait here”. Rocky dressed very hurriedly but expertly, always look your best, his mom would say. As he came downstairs he went into his home office, and grabbing his briefcase, stuffs the O'Hare file into it. “Sir if you could also grab a guardianship application, we will get a judge to sign off on it this afternoon”. “I want to see these guardians first before I sign the kids away”. “Very good Sir, we are taking you to them now. The head field agent is waiting to talk to you”.

Rocky Martin who had never flown in a helicopter before, he was scared spitless. He clutched his bag to his chest in fear. Muttering under his breath, he just kept repeat, “let this be over soon”, and soon it was over. Rocky was never so happy to see the ground. As he got out of the chopper, a stripped hare walked up to him. “Thank you for coming Mr. Martin, my name is Jack Savage”. They shake paws. “May I See the children”? “You will Rocky, oh, sorry may I call you Rocky”? “Yes, Yes, just get to the point”. “Ok, this is classified for now, but the children were found at a secret experimental lab. They were picked up with four other kits who were also at this lab. Rocky don't think of them as kits, I don't think they ever were kits. They are smarter than your average twenty-something”. Rocky scoffs at this, “really? you expect me to believe that”? “No, I don’t, until you see it for yourself. Come on, they're in the burrow”.

As Rocky comes into the room, he is hit with Fear? Trepidation? Apprehension? All of the above? Before he can say anything, Vivian stands up. “Rocky? Rocky Martin? Is that you”? “I’m sorry ma’am you have me at a disadvantage”. “I swear Rocky your memory is just as bad as when you were swiping apples off old mammal Ferguson’s tree”. Nick looks up at him, “Hello, Rocky butt”, he says. “There’s only one person who ever called me that, and I swore if he ever called me that again, I would whip his butt”. “Careful Rocky, you are talking to an officer of the law”. Nick stands up and hugs Rocky. “God, it’s good to see you lad, but what’s this you’re a cop”? “As of four years ago”. “And yes, I remember you, Vivian, you did paddle my butt more than once, I had trouble sitting down more than once too”. He then embraces Vivian. “Rocky I would like to introduce my husband Peter Howler, they shake paws, and Nicks wife Judy Wilde”. “Wait a minute, you married this old scruff bum”? “Rocky you know I was never scruffy”. “So where are the O’Hare children”? “Playing at the moment. Can you fill us in, Rocky? We just know them as our son's littermates. And they do have names, other than the O'Hare children”. “Sorry, I was not told much myself”.

“But what I can tell is, the O’Hare’s Approached me about five years ago, when I was fresh out of law school, and asked me to be their family lawyer, the nice retainer went a long way to sealing the deal, they then asked me if I could write any kits born or unborn into their will. I did this, and about a year later they went to the Zootopia fertility clinic to get some help in having children. Because of a childhood accident, Justin had a very low sperm count. So, the only way they could have kits was by invitro. They were ecstatic that they had four viable embryos to work with, but because of their busy lifestyles, they put the implantation off for a month. Just as they were going to do it, the place was firebombed. They always claimed that their kits were stolen from the clinic, so they put up a reward to try and get them back. It’s a shame they died not knowing they had kits”. “Rocky we went to the same clinic for similar reasons, and the same thing happened to us”. “You guys were going to have kits together”? “Yes, Rocky, we had six viable embryos. But we got the news two days before the firebombing”. “Oh, god, I’m sorry guys that must have been rough”. “It was very rough; we took some time off work because of it. But it has worked out in the end”.

“So, can I see the children”? Judy got up, went to the door, and called, “Hey guys we need you”. It sounded like a herd of elephant coming to the door, and the ground rumbled a bit. All eight of us came bounding into the room. these weren’t little bounds we were seeing how far we could get with each bound. Rocky was shocked at how far we could bound. We all went and stood around mom and dad. “So which ones are the O’Hare children”? “The grey bunnies, Rocky, the burnt umber one’s are mine and Judy’s”. We separated into two groups. “Yours”? “Yes Rocky, their DNA says that they are mine and Judy’s kits”. “O.M.G you're telling me you do have kits”. “Yes Rocky, they were the other kits found with the O’Hare’s”. “Who are these O'Hare's you are speaking of”? asks Susan.

“You are my dear, says Rocky. Wait a minute, I do have a picture of your parents here”. Rocky pulls out a photo and hands it to Susan, her eyes get big and she turns to me. “Daniel, is this the secret you were keeping from us”? “Yes, it was, if I had told you earlier, they were your parents you would have all cried, and the link would have been found out. I have a sketch pad full of pictures, of their time with you in the meadow”. Rick comes over and looks at the photo. “I'm sorry guys, Thumper and Juniper were your parents, their real names were Justin and Jenifer O'Hare”.

Rocky was floored. “How did you know their pet names for each other, and how did you meet them”? “Rocky it’s hard to explain, but if you ask me later, I will take you to the meadow. As for how we met them, Gab brought them to us the night of their car accident, while we were in the meadow. They spent three nights in the meadow playing and laughing with their children before they had to pass beyond. As for how we know their pet names, when they came to the meadow, they used their pet names to identify themselves. I went online and figured out who they were, and asked grandpa if he could find out their condition. He told me that the plug was pulled on life support at one minute to midnight, I thought it strange at the time. I can even tell you why they called each other by those names”.

“Daniel, I am probably the only guy to know why they called themselves by those pet names, so why did they call themselves by those names”? “Jenifer was being picked on by bullies, and Justin came to her defense and thumped the bullies. She thought of him after as her thumper. And Justin called her Juniper because she was as strong as the tree, they planted in the courtyard, he also used it because she was his shelter in life”. “God, I don't know how you know these things but you are spot on. And no, they didn't die when Larry pulled the plug, but they died at five minutes after midnight, which is a good thing because there was a clause in their will, that if they died, before midnight, Larry would get Everything. But because they died the next day the clause was defunct, and I have been fighting him ever since. So, you're telling me they did get to meet their children”? “And play with them as well”, I added.

“God this quite the story guys, But, on to the reading of the will, but before I do, who is going to be the guardians of the O’Hare’s”? “That would be Judy and I, Rocky”. “But you already have four Kits, four more could be too much”. At this, Susan stands up. “Mr. Martin we will not be split up”. “Oh, no, you four would stay together”. “You misunderstand Mr. Marten, by us I mean all eight of us. We will not be split up”. “But think of all the pressure you will put on Nick and Judy”. “Mr. Martin we are only kits by size, not mental capacity. All of us have at least a grade twelve education, some of us have first-year university courses under our belts”. “I find that hard to believe”. “Cindy, can you talk sense into Mr. Martin”? “I can only try”. For the second time that day, an adult was taken away to be convinced.

“Susan, you know Rocky is a hard ass, right”? “Yes, dad but our lawyer is handling it”. “Your Lawyer”? “Yes, dad if Cindy were to take the bar tomorrow, she would pass with top honors. I believe she will have him convinced in a very short time”. “I hope you are right. Susan, why do you call me Dad”? “We all decided shortly after Daniel came to you, that you and Judy would be our parents as well, do you not like it, would you prefer Nick”? “No, I like it, just not used to it”.

After about ten minutes they walk back to the table. Martin is looking a little defeated. “Young lady remind me never to go up against you in a court of law, I would hate losing to a three-year-old. All right, everyone let’s get this paper filled out, Susan do you want to go first”? Susan signs first then Cindy, then Suzie, then Rick. "All right Nick Judy if you could Sign here, Stu And Bonnie could you sign here as witnesses to their signatures. Now I’ll sign it, Jack could you witness my signature”? “Sure”, says Jack as he Signs it. Mr. Martin then seals it into an envelope and hands it to Jack. “Can you see this to a judge today Jack”? “Consider it done, the helicopter has to go back anyway”. Jack leaves the room and shortly after the helicopter leaves as well.

“All right to the will, Cindy would you like to read it, and give a synopsis of it”. “Sure Mr. Martin". Cindy takes the will and does a speed read of the document. "Well in a nutshell it says that we get the house and the personal bank accounts, and half the company when we turn Eighteen. But for now, Mom and Dad have control over us and the house, And Mr. Martin has control over the bank accounts for now”. “Right, so from the bank account you will get an allowance for the upkeep of the house, and any staff you see fit to hire”. “Staff, House”? “Well Yes, the O’Hare complex is down at 100 Harris Street”. “But that’s an apartment complex”. “Yes, the O’Hare’s had the top two floors. You also control the building; all building maintenance should be handled through the superintendent. You also have a say in who lives in the building, but please don’t abuse that privilege”.

“But we are supposed to live there”? “Yes, you are, the house you are in now is just too small”. “How many rooms does it have”? “Let's see, the last time I went through there was 12 bedrooms, four of them had private baths and the other eight shared the bathrooms One bathroom to two bedrooms. It also had a modest living room and a very modern kitchen. There is a gym, and a swimming pool on the next floor down. The housekeeper comes in three times a week to clean. And I can recommend a good cook if you need one”. “But we’re just simple cops”, “yes you may be simple cops, but the O’Hare kits are privileged. And after what they have gone through, I think they deserve some pampering”. “Are you ok with this Judy”? “Nick this is a lot to take in, when do we have to decide”? “I'm afraid you already did when you signed the guardianship papers. The house is yours to use with your kits”. “Mom do you want to move in with us or stay in your house”? “What do you think Peter”? “Well if it’s ok with you I would like to move into the apartment, as it is a short walk from there to work for me”. “Apartment it is then”. “Mom you would just give up your house”? “Nick that house has some good memories some bad one but all in all it's just a house, it's only a home if a family lives in it, and my home is where my family is”.


	29. New Home

We got underway just after lunch, Stu and Bonnie wanted us to stay for just one night, but mom and dad had to be at work tomorrow. We promised we would be back soon, for a visit. We were a two-car convoy, Susan, Mr. Martin and I rode in the back of the cruiser. Everyone else was in Peter's car following us. I would like to say, Susan and I were awake for the trip, but we were so tired, that we fell asleep in each other's arm's, by the time we got to the end of the driveway.

“So, Nick what gives with these two”? “In what way Rocky”? “Well, to tell you the truth, if I didn’t know better, I would swear they had been married for years”. “They have been married for years”. “What”? “Rocky, do you understand what the word empath means”? “Well, I have the dictionary’s version of the word, but what do they mean by it”. “The best I can say is that they are in each other's head, and don't have any secrets. They know what the other one wants and needs, no words have to be spoken between them, they just know”. “I really can’t imagine that”. “Well I’m having some trouble too; I’m trying to understand having that kind of bond. But the bond is there I can feel it”. “You can feel it”? “Yes, Rocky, can’t you”? “Not really”. “Try something for me, close your eyes and just look at them, you should be able to feel it”. After a few minutes, “I can feel something, but I can’t describe it”. “You’ve got it Rocky; I can’t describe it either, but I can feel it’s there. Judy and I have the same kind of bond, but we are still developing it as a couple. Theirs appears to be fully developed”.

“So, tell us about the place we are moving too”. “Not moving to, but moved to”. “Ok, would you like to explain that statement”. “Jack called me, while you were trying to explain things to Judy's parents. He has moved all your belonging over to the new house. You will have to make arrangements with a moving company for the big stuff. I took the liberty of calling a food delivery service and had a week's worth of groceries delivered to the house. It's just basic foodstuffs, so anything special you will have to get tomorrow”. “Ah, what about our spare guns”? “Well Jack said that they couldn’t open the safe, so they just pulled it out of the wall and brought it over whole”. “Remind me to have a serious word with Jack, about privacy”. “There is a safe in the master bedroom, I will give you the combo before I leave”.

“So, is this “House" gated”? “Yes, sort of, a person is sitting behind a desk in the apartment lobby, but he is mostly there to meet and greet everyone and direct them to the floors they want. He is authorized to use a Taser and trank gun when things do go wrong, though. This helps protect the people living there. The top floors are only accessible by an elevator, and some emergency stairs that I will show you, the emergency stairs do not come out in the lobby, they have their exit in the courtyard, and can only be opened from the inside”. “If It’s the building I’m thinking of, it’s about 10 stories”. “It's 12 stories tall”.

“So, what kind of house allowance do we have to work with”? “Well you can hire a cook, and a housekeeper, I recommend Miss Watts, she is keeping the place clean at the moment, but you could hire one more if you feel you need it. The allowance covers all food for the house, just call the delivery service and they will bring you what you need. There is a taxi service you can call when you all want to go on an outing, I will give you the account number at the house. The building is pretty much self-sustaining. And pretty much pays for its self”. “God, Nick this is overwhelming. What are we going to do”? “We’ll get by Judy, we always do”.

Dad pulled over just before we got to the city, and explained to Peter what had happened. Peter just shrugged and told dad to carry on. We woke up at this point, and Susan got wide-eyed looking at the city. As we traveled, she was in awe, at the people and places we passed. I could feel the awe and wonder from all the rest of my mates too. We turned onto Harris, and drive to the “house”.

“Just park in the VIP section Nick, we can deal with the cars later”. Dad pulls over and parks, Peter parks behind us. As there is traffic whizzing by on the left, we all go out of the passenger side doors. We then all walk to the lobby door. “Afternoon Alfred”, “Good afternoon to you Mr. Martin. Is there a problem that I’m not aware of Mr. Martin”? “No, Alfred, I’m just bringing the new owner’s home”. Alfred looks at Nick, “Afternoon sir, your stuff has arrived and has been placed in your home”. “Hi, Alfred, I’m Nick Wilde and this is my wife Judy Wilde, you can just call me Nick”. “So, when did you buy the building”? “Ah, Alfred, we don’t own the building, they do”, as he points to my littermates.

Mr. Martin speaks up, “Alfred I would like to introduce to you, Susan, Cindy, Suzie, and Rick, the O’Hare children”. “They did have Children”? “Yes, they did Alfred”. “Oh, my word, I’m glad to meet you all”. “Nick and Judy are the legal Guardians of the O’Hare children. And their Kits are Daniel, Terry, Davis, and Ava. Behind me is Peter Howler and his Wife Vivian Howler. Alfred is the head of security for the building you have any problems you call him. We’ll talk later, Alfred. Could you have four more cards made”? “Yes, sir, I’ll run them up when they are made”. “Oh, and we have two cars parked in the VIP section, it wouldn’t look good if we towed a ZPD cruiser”. “Very Good, Mr. Martin”. Rocky pulls a key card out of his pocket and inserts it into the elevator.

The elevator opens on the top floor into a reception area, with a desk. “Justin used to have a secretary sit here, he conducted most of his business from home, this kind of pissed off his brother Larry. He kept saying he didn't spend enough time in the office. And this is your new home”, says Rocky opening a big set of double doors.

As we all walked in, the first door on the left opened into a fair-sized living room, with the biggest TV I had ever seen. All our stuff from the house was in the living room. There were windows all along the east wall. The door opposite opened into a kitchen/dining room combo. With windows all along the west side.

Looking out the windows mom exclaims, “Look Nick the precinct is five blocks away from here, we can leave the cruiser at the precinct”. “Your right fluff, we can die in the heat walking home”. “Har, Har, slick”. Mom lightly punches dads’ shoulder. We then leave the kitchen and chose our bedrooms. Dad and mom take the bedroom facing west, which was the largest, “just so the sun doesn’t wake me up in the morning”, says dad. “Well, I don't mind mornings, how about you, Peter”? “I like morning and the promise of a new day, with you”. Says Peter as he kisses Vivian. We look at them and go, “Ewww, get a room you too.” “We just did”, he says, as he leads Vivian into their room. We all laugh.

The next two rooms are adult rooms as they have their bathrooms. The next six doors down either side, are bedrooms that share a bath, two-bedrooms for everyone bathroom. Susan and I chose a pair of rooms that share a bathroom, our littermates then take rooms as pairs as well. “Ah, Rocky I thought you said there were only 12 bedrooms”? “Sorry, Nick must have missed counted. The O’Hare’s always wished for a big family”. “So, what’s behind the two doors down near the end of the hall? And what’s behind the door at the end of the hall”? “The door at the end of the hall is the emergency stairs I told you about. The door on the left is to Justin's office, and the one on the right is to Jenifer's workroom”.

Rick perk’s up at this, “Workroom”? “Yes, your mother had all kinds of hobbies that she did, would you like to see”? He nods his head yes. Rocky opens the door and flips on the lights, as the curtains are drawn. Two benches are running the length of the room down each wall with a potter's wheel in front of the window. “She was never much good with the wheel, but she did try”. One bench along the north wall was mostly free of anything, and Rick jumped up to inspect it.

I could fell him ask Ava to come down to the end of the hall and look at this. Ava came in fairly quickly and inspected the bench as well. “Mr. Martin Ava and I are going to need some computer supplies, and we will be using this bench for it”. “Give me a list Rick and I will get them for you”. “Ava and I will have a list in a couple of days, thank you, sir”. “Don’t thank me, Rick. The money in the bank accounts is for your use”. We all head back towards the living room. Grandpa and grandma are sorting their stuff out to take to their room.

“Guys, could you all gather round”? All of us gather in a semi-circle. “Mr. Martin could you stand behind Susan and Rick, please”. I reach into the box labeled "portfolios" and pull out the only white one. “Susan this was the only Secret I ever kept from you; I hope you all like It". With that, I hand it to her. She opens the book and on the first page were the smiling faces of her parents, their birthdates and the death date, and on the bottom, I had written: "in loving memory". She slowly flips through it, and her tears threaten to fall on the pages. Her sibling were in no better shape, as they were all crying too. By the time they got to the end of It, all of us were crying with them. Susan gets up and hugs me. “Daniel, I forgive you for keeping this secret, and I can understand why you did”. I then get a hug from Rick, Cindy, and Suzy. Mr. Martin looks at me, “Daniel, did you draw all of this”? “Yes, I did, Mr. Martin”. “Daniel this is amazing, there are more pictures in this album of the O’Hare’s, than there are photographs of them. They were very private people, and shunned any public picture taking of them”. “Mr. Martin, before they passed over, I made them a promise that their kits would never forget them”.

“Well this has been a long day, and I'm starved”, says mom. “Right, should we order pizza”? “Allow me guys", Rocky says as he dials his phone, "Alfred we need some pizza Delivery… yes Alfonzo’s would be great, three meat lovers and five Vegetarian, and can you see if they can put a rush on it? Right thanks, call me and I’ll come down and get it”. I start drooling as I remember the last pizza we ate. I go to the bookshelf and start putting my portfolios on the bottom shelf. I then find the box labeled kit clothes and take it to my room. Grandpa and dad pick up the safe and take it to the master bedroom.

I can feel the sadness coming from my mates, as they have nothing to unpack. “Hey Guys, come over here a minute”. As we all go over, grandma starts to hand out smaller boxes. “I knew you had nothing so… I hope these clothes fit”. As one they all drop their boxes and hug grandma. They then pick up their boxes and head for their rooms. The rest of the stuff leaves the living room fairly quick. I walk over to the entertainment center and marvel at the number of music discs there is in the collection.

Suzie comes up behind me and asks if we could play something. I reach for the gazelle cd that mom loves, pop it in, and figure out how to play it. As it plays, Suzie listens and then joins in on the second refrain. O.M.G. she is pitch-perfect and has the voice of an angel, it wasn't long before everyone else notices and comes into the room. As the song ends, we all start to clap. Suzie just blushes at the praise. “Can you sing something else Suzie"? asks mom. “Don’t know”, she replies. I look at the collection and find a song by a rock artist, it’s one of my favorites, I push play. Same as before she listens and then joins in on the second refrain. This song is kind of laded back, and mellow, but she pulls it off perfectly, she even puts some of her emotions out to the music, everyone in the room can now feel as well as hear the song. We all clap a little louder at the end of the song. “You, my dear would make an awesome performer”, says Rocky. As he says this, his phone rings, it’s the pizza.

Rocky comes back just as mom finished setting the table. Eight of the chairs have been set up for us kits. Multi-position chairs do come in handy. These pizza's smell amazing, I dig in as soon as a slice is passed to me. My mates watch me and how I eat it, and it's a repeat of the first time I had pizza. We all, me included, look like beach balls.

After supper, Rocky shows us the pool and gym. Everyone wants to go for a swim, mom says “no, tomorrow morning would be soon enough”. We hang our heads, and dad bursts out laughing, “sorry guys we can’t be manipulated that easy”. “It was worth a try, dad". We all pile into the elevator and go back upstairs.

All us kids head for the living room to watch some TV. All the adults talk in the hallway. “So, in the underground, you will find three parking stalls, labeled 01,02, and 03, one should have Justin's little red sports car in it. The other two are free. The house card will open the overhead and allow access to the car park. I don't think the cruiser will fit, the lights on top would make it to high”. “That’s ok, I’ll just drive it to the precinct tonight, and walk back”. “Oh, before I forget, here are your access cards”. He passes over four cards. “Well I must be off; tomorrow is another day of work for me”. “Right, Peter and I will walk you down”. Peter offers to take Mr. Martin home, which he accepts.

Dad hops into the cruiser and returns it to the precinct. As he's walking through the lobby, he's stopped by Matty. “So, I see your back, Nick”. “Yes Matty, it’s been a long four days”. “I’ll bet it has, so is Daniel any worst for wear”? “No Matty, he’s probably in better shape than I am. His sibling are in even better shape”. “Wait, What? He has siblings”? “Yes, three of them”. “Wow, you guys must be over the moon”. “Well, it’s going to take some getting use to”. “I’ll bet, you’ll have to tell Clawhauser all about it, so all of us can find out as well”. Nick chuckles, “see you later Matty have to walk home”. “Don’t you live in precinct 3, Nick”? “Not any more Matty, we now live at 100 Harris”. “O.M.G. you have to tell Clawhauser”. With this Nick walks out the door.

It’s a short 7-minute walk home. As he walks in the door, the person behind the desk is different. Nick walks up to the desk, thinking to go and introduce himself. The guard takes one look at the fox, wearing a rumpled police outfit, and assumes he’s here for no good. “What do you want fox”? “I just want to introduce myself before I go up to my home”. “No foxes live in this building, so, turn around and walk away fox”. “Well sir, I do live in this building as of today, and I would just like to go home”. “Fox, I want you to leave now”. “Fine, I can see that I’m not getting through to you, I’m just going to go on up to my home”. Nick moves over towards the elevator. “That’s not the way-out fox, I am authorized to use force if you don’t comply”. “Do what you must”. As Nick reaches to insert his card. He is Tasered.

Nick comes back to his senses just the police siren shuts off outside. In walks a very tall lion in uniform. “Evening Delgato”, says Nick. “Ah Nick what are you doing here, and why are you wearing handcuffs”? “Well the gentle mammal behind the desk, used derogatory language and speciest comments towards me, and when I tried to go home, he tasered me”. “You live here Nick”? “As of today, yes Delgato”. Nick calls out to the guard sitting behind the desk, “call Alfred, if you would please”. The guard gets on the phone. Delgato helps Nick up and takes off the handcuffs. Nick calls Judy, “Judy can you come down to the lobby, please? Thanks, fluff, I'll explain when you get here”. Alfred and Judy arrive almost at the same time. “Herman, why am I here”? asks Alfred. “Nick, What's going on”? “To answer both your questions, I was trying to go home when this guard decided to stop me with a taser”. “Herman is this true”? “Yes sir, he was acting shifty, and when I told him to leave, he wouldn’t, so I tasered him and called for the police”. ‘Herman, did you read the memo I left on the desk”? “No, sir, there was no memo on the desk when I came in”. Alfred goes behind the desk and checks the waste paper basket. In the basket is the crumpled-up memo. “I see, Herman this is the fourth complanate I have received about you”. Alfred, looks al Nick,” I’m sorry sir, what would you like me to do”? “Well Alfred, can you get the video copy of what happened here”? “Certainly, I can”, Alfred then calls up to the security office and asks for a copy of the lobby camera, for the last hour.

“What would you like me to do with it”? “Officer Delgato will need a copy, Alfred”. “Am I to assume you will be pressing charges”? “Yes Alfred, I am. Herman here did not try to find out who I am, or my business here. He took one look at my outside appearance and assumed I was up to no good. He was very derogatory towards me, and then he assaulted me with a taser”. Alfred turns to Herman. “You Shot Mr. Wilde with your taser? You do realize that you just shot a police officer with a taser, while he is in uniform”? With this, the young buck deer got a very shocked look on his face. The main elevator opens and a wallaby comes out with a disc and hands it to Alfred. Alfred and Delgato, go behind the desk and on the monitor watch’s the whole incident happen. He then hands the Disk to Delgato, letting out with a huge sigh, he turns towards Herman, saying, “I’m sorry Herman I can’t make this one go away”. Delgato puts the cuffs on Herman and leads him away. Alfred slumps in the chair and says, “He was a good mammal, I'll have to find a replacement in the morning. Wallace could you man the desk for the rest of Herman's shift please”? He then gets up from the chair and Wallace takes his place.

“Alfred, I know someone to call, and it would be a great favor to me". He hands a piece of paper over to Alfred, with a name printed on it. "He was set up on the last job he had, he was made the fall guy for the whole thing. Judy and I have proven he was not at fault, and he is still certified with all weapons. He is also ex ZPD, and is good with people”. “I will call him in the morning, do you think he could start right away”? “I’m sure he could Alfred. Come on Judy let’s go home”.

Later Nick is soaking in the tub, as getting tasered is not a pleasant experience. Judy comes in and joins him in the tub. She cuddles in and sighs, “I’m sorry you had to go through that Nick”. “It’s ok fluff, I’ve just forgotten how painful a taser can be”. “No, I meant the derogatory and speciest comments you have to endure, just because you are a fox”. “If that had been everything, I would have ignored it as normal, but when he used the taser, that was a misuse of power, and that I couldn’t ignore”. “I know you try to be fair Nick, but I wish you would get upset more and not bottle it”. “You can read me like a book, can’t you love”. “It’s not always easy, but I’m learning your tells”. “Oh really? Then tell me what I’m thinking now, oh wise one”? “Oh, I know exactly what you're thinking now Mr. Wilde”, she says as she kisses him.


	30. Life Goes On

Early the next morning I woke up cuddled next to Susan, this felt good and right. I nibbled on her neck a bit to wake her up. She lets out with a sleepy sigh, and rolls over and kisses me. We just lay there, until the need to use the washroom becomes too much to bear. It’s then I notice I’m in Susan’s room, and I don’t remember getting up and moving there.

“Silly, we were brought here by grandma when we fell asleep in front of the TV. She just picked us up as one and deposited us here”. “You know we are supposed to be sleeping alone, right”? “Yes, Daniel but I have nothing to hide from you”, “I know love but we are in a society now and we have to act as such, but for the moment I have to go”. I use the facilities and get dressed in my room. I then walk back into Susan's room and pounce on her as she had gone back to sleep. I hear something about a bloody nose as I scurried away.

Grandma is in the kitchen making waffles, as I come in. “Morning grandma”, “Morning Daniel Sleep well”? “Yes, I did thank you”. “How would you like to make that fruit spread again”? “Love to”, I get the ingredients out of the fridge, and cupboard, and put them all on the counter. I then have them mixed as mammals start to arrive.

Dad and Mom come in, looking a little better than they did last night. “Morning squirt”, says dad ruffing up the fur on my head, “Morning Daniel”, says mom as she hugs me from behind. they both grab a coffee and sit down at the table. “Morning number 1”, “morning number2”, Vivian blushes, and grandpa and I just laugh. Grandpa grabs a coffee and sits down at the table as well. My brothers and sisters all stagger in a few minutes later. “Ah, it’s good not having to get up so early, and having that hour more in the morning”.

“Don't get used to it dad”. “Why not Daniel”? “The master of our DOJO says we should all be up at five to start our morning routines. And if your late he might just have to come into your room and kick your butt out of bed”. “Are you serious”? “Yes, dad I am, you asked for training and you will receive it”. “But does it have to be at five am”? “Yes, dad it does”. Dad whines at this. “Oh, suck it up you big baby", says mom. "or we can run to the station every morning, and you can be hot and sweaty all day”. “Boy I’m glad that’s not me”, says Peter. “Are you part of this family grandpa”? “You Know I am Daniel”. “Then this is for all family members, the benefits will outweigh the cost. After we work out, we can shower and go for a swim”. “All right who are you? Daniel would never be this hard on me”. “Daniel is not here at the moment, but the DOJO master is”. Vivian kisses him “it will be fine love, Daniel is not that hard a taskmaster, but your wife is”. “Two against one, no fair”. “Get used to it love, we only want what’s best for us”. “Oh, and dad I won’t kick your butt out of bed in the morning”, dad gets a look of relief on his face, “I’ll send mom in to do it”. Nick gets a look of horror on his face, and mom gets a look of glee on hers. “Now everyone this routine starts tomorrow. So early to bed. Breakfast will be after the swim, and you all should be able to get to work on time”.

After breakfast, mom and dad kiss and hug us all, and head for the station and Peter heads for the hospital. The rest of us head for the pool. We all shower first to get all the loose fur off, and as the pool is private, we just all jump in, in the buff.

Miss Watts comes in for her daily cleaning of the house, she is feeling a little down as there is never that much to do, and the house feels so empty. But as she steps inside, she can feel that the house is different, it feels lived in. As she enters the kitchen, she sees the chairs and the dirty dishes in the sink. She then checks out the bedrooms and finds ten of them lived in. She is worried that the house had been broken into, and squatters were in the house. She rushes back to the living room for the wall phone, but stops dead in her tracks, seeing naked kits and a naked fox come in the front door.

“Ah, good morning Miss Watts, I’m Vivian Howler, sorry to greet you this way, just let us all get dressed and we will come back to greet you properly. All right guys to your rooms and get dressed”. We all scramble and disappear into our rooms. “Miss Watts if you like, you can call Alfred or you can wait for me to get dressed”. “I’ll wait for you mum”. “All right I won’t be but a moment, there’s coffee in the pot, help yourself”. Miss Watts had never been offered coffee before, so she poured herself a cup and sits down at the table. Vivian comes in and getting eight glasses out of the cupboard, puts them on the table and gets the juices out of the fridge and puts them on the table as well. She then pours herself a coffee and sits down at the table. “I know you have a lot of questions, but let’s wait for the kits, shall we”? We all come in like a mini whirlwind, and sitting at the table, we pour ourselves some juice.

“Miss Watts, I'm sure you have lots of questions, but let's get the big one out of the way. Susan would you like to start please”. “Hi, I'm Susan K O'Hare”,” Hi I’m Cindy P O’Hare”, “Hi I’m Suzie Q O’Hare” “and I'm Rick O O'Hare, Hi”. AS they introduce themselves Miss Watts’s eyes get big and she Exclaims, “How”? “Well most of their story has a classified stamp on it, but what I can tell you is their identity was confirmed by the Z.CIA these are the O’Hare children, the other four are my grand kits. Daniel”? “Hi I’m Daniel J Wilde”, “I’m Terry L Wilde”, “I’m Davis M Wilde”, “and I’m Ava N Wilde”. “Ah, grandma I don’t think she’s doing so well”. She was positively green. Miss Watts visibly gulped and tried to bring herself back under control, we helped by projecting calm. “This is a lot to take in Folks, give an old woman a few would you please”? “Miss Watts I can see you are no older than me, and I know its quite a shock, in fact when I found out, I fainted, so take a few no one will judge you”. She visible works at getting herself under control, while we just project calm to her.

“So, are you the guardian of the children”? “No, that would be my son and his wife Nick and Judy Wilde, I’m just their grandmother”. “You mean Nick Wilde as in first fox cop Nick Wilde”? “Yes, that would be my son”. “Oh, my, I idolized him for stepping out and showing the city, foxes like us could be trusted. I didn’t know he was married”. “Yes, he married Judy Hopps about 3 ½ years ago”. With this, her paws flew to her muzzle, “you mean the first bunny cop married the first fox cop”? “Pretty much, yes”. “I have followed them both, and idolize them both, they broke the stereotypical constraints for their species, and proved that old bumper sticker”, “Zootopia where anyone can be anything”.

She then looks ay Susan, “You look just like your mother, oh, Justin and Jenifer would have loved to meet you all”. “But they did Miss Watts”. Susan jumps down and gets the white portfolio, she brings it and lays it in Miss Watts Paws. With trembling paws, she opens it and starts to look through it. “Are these all real”? “As real as any memory you may have, these pictures did happen”. “Wow, this is beautiful. I have never seen them look so free. And at play yet, Mr. O’Hare was so stern, he didn’t seem like the type to play”. “Well we were his children, and there wasn’t enough time before we had to say goodbye”.

“So, where did you meet them”? “We met them in the meadow”. “Meadow? As in on the south side of Zootopia”? “No Miss Watts, the meadow is a special place, and a very hard place to remember”. “Oh, the dream meadow. Tell me, does Gab Still run the meadow”? We were all floored and in shock. “You know about the meadow”? “Oh yes, When I was little, I visited the meadow a lot, and Gab was always there, to laugh with, and to cry with. He was my comfort when my life fell apart as a little Kit. But slowly as I got older, I went less and less to the meadow tell finally I stopped going altogether. I do miss him; he was such a great help”. “So, you met your parents there”? We all shake our heads yes. “And when was this”? “The three days that they were in a coma in the hospital”. “Oh, I’m glad they got to meet their kits before they passed, I hope it was a great comfort to them”. “It was Miss Watts, it was”.

Nick and Judy come in the front door to a squeal from Clawhauser, “O.M.G. tell me, tell me, please”? “Yes, Clawhauser we did get Daniel back and a little more”. Nick holds up his phone with a picture of me and my siblings. He lets out another squeal, “Oh, tell me, names”? “Daniel you know, Terry is standing next to him, Davis is standing next to Terry, and our daughter is Ava. You will get to meet them tomorrow; they will all be here for practice. Oh, Clawhauser we need a change of address form”. “So, it’s true then, Delgato said you guys live downtown now”. “Yes, it’s true, hence the change of address form”. Clawhauser reaches into his file folders and hands Nick a change of address form, “Thanks Spots”, says Nick.

“Wilde’s, my office now”. “Hark I believe the Chief is calling”. Judy lightly punches Nick's arm; Nick just smirks as he rubs his arm. Nick knocks on the Chief's door, "enter" is heard as Nick opens the door. “So, Wilde do you have a trouble magnet? And if you don’t, why does it always seem to find you”? “Well, chief’…." “sit down Wilde, that was a rhetorical question. So, would you like to tell me what happened at the O’Hare Apartments last night”? “Well sir, I was trying to get home when the mammal behind the desk made some very derogatory comments to me, and when he wouldn’t let up I pulled out my key card to call the elevator, turned my back to insert it into the elevator, the mammal at the desk tasered me at this point”. “When did you move into O'Hare Apartments”? “Ah, yesterday sir”. “How can two cops on your salaries afford the place”? “We can’t sir, but as the Guardians of the O’Hare children, we moved in with them”. The Chief put his Hoof to his forehead and starts to rub.

“So, are you telling me, that not only do you have your kits, but you are now responsible for the O'Hare kits too”? “Yes sir, that is correct”. “Where do the O’Hare kits come in”? “Sir, they are the littermates to my son. We Know that Heather Thomas was the surrogate mother to all eight of them. They consider themselves as brothers and sisters to each other, and refused to be split up”. “I am so getting a headache, when was all this decided”? “Ah, yesterday morning when the Z.CIA brought Daniel back. The Z.CIA did DNA tests on all of them to verify their identity. The O’Hare’s refused at this point to be split from our kits, and the Z.CIA agreed that it was unwise to split them up. At this point, the kit's lawyer arrived and signed guardianship over to Judy and I”. “So, Hopps, are you ok with all of this”? “Well chief it is a lot to get use too, but I believe Nick and I can handle it”. “I hope you can for both your sakes”.

“Sir, we are having two prisoners transferring in from Z.CIA, they could be responsible for the death of Heather Thomas”. “Who was Heather Thomas”? “Chief, she was the fox that was assaulted the morning Daniel came to us. We believe that Mike’s cruiser camera will show these two assaulting Heather”. “Is the footage good enough for facial recognition”? “We believe so sir. There are at least five seconds of still frame to work with”. “What about the clinic bombing”? “Sir, Z.CIA is still going through the files, but they have proven this institute was responsible for the clinic bombing”. “Do they have a motive yet”? “Not sure sir. They have not contacted us with any new information yet”. “Well keep on it, it would be nice to close those two files”. “Yes, sir it would”.

We arrive at the DOJO a little late as they had a hard time finding a cab for all of us. We all just walk in and Vivian and I just wave to Maurice as we walk by. Mr. Delaront comes over, “well Daniel I see you brought the whole family, today”. “Yes Sir, we are finally all back together. The institute is no more”. “Very Good Daniel, so who are all of you”? My mates all give their first names. “Sir, I’ve had a strange request, I was told to tell snowflake, hi”. Mr. Delaront bursts out laughing, “so how is our little white vixen doing”? “Skye is doing fine sir; she is a tactical officer for the Z.CIA”. “Is she now? She always had a no-nonsense approach to the way she approached life”. “Sir, Snowflake”? “Well Daniel, I was on a retreat in tundra town, I was outside doing my routine when I noticed a little white vixen watching me. As I watched her, watching me, a big snowflake landed on my nose, because I was cold it stayed there for the duration of my routine. She came over and called me snowflake and asked if I could teach her”.

“So, teach her I did, she was the best student I ever taught”. “Sir, did you notice any kind of flaw in her fighting”? “No, Daniel, why do you ask”? “Well sir when I was fighting with her, I noticed she had hesitation in her fighting. She seemed to have to think about which move to make, she had a small lag time and I took advantage of this, to beat her in the ring”. “Daniel, when she left here, there was no lag time, she was a flawless fighter, one of the best. But you still beat her”? “Yes sir, I did. I think I might have an idea as to what has got to her, sir do I have your permission to help her”? “Daniel, you have every right to help another fighter. You do not need my permission to help her”. “Thank you, sir”.

“So, what can I do for your family today”? “Sir, we need testing for my family, I need to know where to start with them”. “Then let’s begin”. Test them all he did, Susan was disappointed with a brown belt but could understand why. She had never fought for real before, she only had my memories and experience to work from. The rest of the family had purple and green belts. “Daniel their forms are good but they lack power”. “Yes sir, they could not show the institute that they were learning fighting so had to go with what I could show them from my memories and experiences only”. “What do you mean show them”? “Sir we have a mental bond, and they could see how things were done, but could not practice the moves”. “This is the first time they have fought”? “Yes sir, it is”. “Then I’m amazed, do you want us to teach them as well”? “If you would sir”. “Then at the same time you are here, they must be here also”. “We will be here sir”. “So, your training for today begins now”.

Miss Watts was in seventh heaven, not only was the house lived in again, but it was O’Hare children. The sound of laughter coming from the other room before they left, had gladdened her heart. She finished up making the beds, and cleaning the kitchen, and was now dusting the Livingroom. When there was a knock at the front door. She knew it had to be an authorized person; she went to answer the front door. Alfred stood outside the door. “Good afternoon Alfred”, “Good afternoon Miss Watts, may I come in”? “Why certainly, would you like some coffee”? “No, I won’t be staying long”, he says this as he drags a box into the room. “What’s this”? “It's a leftover from one of the move-outs. It's a paw station 4 for the kits”. “Oh, I’m sure they’ll love it”. “It has a few games, not sure how to hook it up though”. “I'm sure the kids will figure it out, thank you, sir”. “Don’t mention it”, he says as he leaves. Miss Watts goes back to cleaning.

We were all bone-weary by the time the day finished, we all were ready to fall over where we stood. Some of us fell asleep on the ride back. Instead of going to the top floor, we went for the showers and the hot tub to soak. The hot tub was made for large animals, so we had plenty of room to soak and float, it felt divine. When we all looked like prunes, we got out of the hot tub, and I dived into the pool. Not the smartest thing I had ever done, it was quite the shock to the system, but very invigorating. Again, we were all naked when we came in the front door, and Miss Watts just laughed when she saw this.

Nick and Judy were walking home, arm in arm, after a long day. As they come in the front door, they were greeted by a smiling JR. “So, JR how’s life treating you”? “Very good it would seem Wilde’s. I hear it was you I have to thank for this job”. “No thanks required JR, I’m just glad that a good mammal is sitting behind that desk”. “I’m sorry Nick, I can remember taser training, my back teeth tingled for a week”. “Mine still are”. They both laugh. “So, I hear you got your son back”. “Yes, we did and a little more”. “The papers were all over the abduction and the return, I think it’s still in the paper today. Ah, what do you mean a little more”? Nick pulls out his phone and shows JR the pictures of the kits. “That little stinker did not tell us he had brothers and a sister; it was quite the shock Sunday morning”. “Oh, I bet it was. So, when did you move in here”? “Ah, yesterday”? “Nick, I know you can’t afford a place like this, you working for Mr. Big again”? Nick and Judy fall against the counter laughing. As Nick gets himself under control, he flips the phone to another photo. “No, JR it seems that the O’Hare Kits are my kit’s littermates. They were all born to the same surrogate mother, we just moved in with them. Judy and I are the guardians of the O’Hare’s”. “Wow, guys that's big, Mr. Big style”. We all laugh some more, “Well JR we have to go, we may have to put out some fires up there”. JR laughs, “see you guys around”, “see you later”.

Mom and dad come in the front door and we all come to greet them. It's a few minutes before they can enter and relax. We then go back to the game we had been playing. “Whoa guys, where did you get that”? “Alfred dropped it off today, and Rick hooked it up”. Mom and dad watch for a bit and go settle down in the kitchen for a cup of tea. Miss Watts acting nervous, flutters around the kitchen.

“You must be Miss Watts”, says Nick. “Yes, I am”, she holds out a little book, “could I have your autographs, please? I've been a big fan of both of you both, and have followed you for some time”. “You’re not stalking us, are you”? As she laughs, she responds, “No, Mr. Wilde, I have not been stalking you, someone else was, and I see she caught you”. Judy laughs and blushes at the same time. “So, can we call you by your first name? and what is it”? “Well, it’s kind of embarrassing, it’s Petunia, but most people call me Pat”. “Well if we call you Pat, you will just have to call us Nick and Judy”. “But Mr. Wilde, it’s not right”. “Who says it’s not right? Judy and I have no Airs, we are just normal working people like yourself”. “If, If you don't mind”? “We don’t mind, we would prefer it”. “Thank you, Sir”. “No sirs either, no Airs remember”? “Thank you… Nick”.

Vivian comes in from taking a short nap. “Hey mom, how did your day go”? “Very tiring, they are pushing me harder now that I have my black belt”. “You have a black belt? How long have you been studying”? asks Pat. “About a 1½ years Miss Watts, I have had three full days a week for the last year of training”. “Why would you do that”? “Well, Daniel got me hooked with isometrics and I found I liked it”. “Is it hard”? “At first yes, but as you progress it becomes easier”. “Would I be able to learn that”?

“It depends what you want it for”. Pat sits down hard, and in a small voice, “I want to defend myself, I don't want to be afraid anymore”. With this, she breaks down crying. I come into the room. “This has something to do with what happened to you as a kit, doesn't it”? Pat just nods her head yes. “Would you use your training to hurt people”? “No, Daniel, I just don't want to be afraid anymore”. “And when you are trained, would you seek revenge on the people that hurt you”? “NO, most aren’t alive anymore, and the ones that are, I have not been in contact with for some time”. “Are you willing to be here every morning at five am”? “Yes, I would, I haven’t slept well for years, and am awake most mornings before five”. “Then the DOJO here welcomes you”. I hug her; “the teacher won't be too hard on you, but he will be fair”. “Oh, look at the time I should be going”. Pat jumps up drying her eyes and heads for the door. She takes her coat out of the closet, and turns back to see me smiling at her she smiles back as the door closes.

“Guys is it my imagination, or does Daniel seem to draw mammals out”? “I think it's just his positive attitude that seems to draw mammals in”. “Could be, he seems to bring out the best in mammals, and they seem to want to do their best for him”. “Well, what should we make for supper tonight”?


	31. Life's mess's

The next morning, I could hear alarm clocks going off all over the house, I just snuggled into Susan, "Susan what are you doing here, in my room"? She just rolls over; "told you don't care what others think". We use the facilities, and head for the gym.

We all help to move the equipment to the walls so we have an open space in the middle. Miss Watts shows up and lends a paw. She is kind of surprised that I am the teacher. After the moving of the equipment, we all change into Karateka’s and start our routines. Dad is still a no show as we start our routine.

“Mom I believe dad’s not coming, could you go get him please”? “With pleasure son”, she says this with a wicked grin on her face. I then help Miss Watts with her positioning and form. She is pretty good at picking up the form. Grandpa is not as good at picking up the form, but grandma helps him. Dad and mom return a few minutes later, dad’s rubbing his butt, and mom has a satisfied look on her face. Dad looks at me with murder in his eyes, but I can see the laugh behind it. I speed up the routine for the newcomers. By the time we are done, we are all ready for a swim.

My mates and I just throw our Karateka’s in the laundry hamper. Miss Watts is very unsure about all this and uses one of the private shower rooms in the locker room. Once we get off the loose fur, we all jump into the pool. Mom is the only one wearing a bathing suit. Miss Watts doesn't join us in the pool. And I try something new, I try to swim like an otter. I get very frustrated as it's not as easy as it looks, I have no grace or flow. We crawl out of the pool, and use the body blowers, we then bush our fur down and head for the house.

We are all still naked and Miss Watts blushes as she sees dad’s naked front side. but her expression turns to one of horror as she sees his back. Dad has a bullet scar on his left shoulder, and three diagonal lines on his back., starting from his right shoulder going to his left hip. Mom has a bullet scar on her left side front to back, a through and through. I’m sure I can get the story out of them later. Miss Watts has made us all breakfast, oatmeal, fruit, toast, juice, and coffee.

We eat like we are all starving. “Pat, grab a bowl and join us”. “No… I couldn’t”. “Pat we all think of you as part of family come, join us at the table”. With trepidation, she fills a bowl, and sitting at the table starts to eat. We banter back and forth, and generally, have fun at the table. Soon it's time for the working folk to go.

Peter heads for the hospital, Miss Watts stays behind to clean, and the rest of us head for the station. When we arrive at the station, the squeal from Clawhauser was deafening. I ran across the lobby and doing two backflips, I land on his desk, and hug him. He's a little shocked but hugs me back. The rest of the family slowly walk up to the desk. “Morning spots”, “morning ben”, “Morning you, cute little cheetah, you”. Vivian says this, as she pinches his cheek. Clawhauser turns red. We all laugh. “So, who is everybody”? My siblings all give their names, and we proceed to banter for a few before we head for the gym.

In the gym, we all start our routine again for the second time that day. Skye and Jack soon join us. I notice jack is rock-solid in the way he does his routine, and wonder how good he is. Skye flows but it seems to be more halting. We start to spar and I can see she is not as good as last time. I step back and putting a fist to palm, ask her if we could talk. She gets a look on her face and motions me towards the locker room. I set grandma to sparing with Fangmyer, as I follow Skye to the locker room.

As we enter the locker room, and the door closes, she turns to me. “What do you want to talk about Daniel”? “Skye don’t take this wrong, but I notice your fighting is off, and you seem to be troubled. Can you tell me what’s going on”? I send calm and love to her. Skye deflates a bit, “Daniel I don’t think you will understand, it’s adult things”. “You mean like the love you have for Jack”? Her head snaps up, and she gets the deer in the headlights look. Skye, “I told you, I can feel and read emotions, you trying to deny it won’t make it go away. It will only eat you up from the inside. It’s starting to affect your fighting form”.

“But Daniel he’s my superior, how can I have feelings for him”? “Skye do you think my parents started out loving each other? They both hated each other, mom thought he was selfish, arrogant, con mammal, and a very bad dresser”. She gives a small chuckle. “And dad thought she was a dumb hick from the sticks, with an outdated set of dreams, and ideals. But once he got to know her, he couldn't help but fall for her and her high ideals, and he helped her to do what was right, and along the way, they fell in love. Love Skye, knows no boundaries, it just is”.

“But what if he doesn’t love me back”? “Skye you well never know, unless you tell him. Skye how much worst can it be? If he doesn’t love you back you can forget it, and move on. Yes, you will hurt, yes you will cry, but is it that any worst then what you are doing to yourself now”? “Daniel, Vixens are usually the ones to make the first move, but I’m scared”. “If it gets so unbearable, you could always transfer out, and he never has to find out”. “No, I won’t do that to Jack”. “Then tell him”.

As I exit the locker room, Jack raises an eyebrow to me. “Just having a talk to Skye about her fighting form”. I look over, and grandma has finished with Fangmyer, “Jack your turn in the ring”. Jack takes off his jacket and enters the ring with me. Jack has a different style than me but he has the lag, and I know he has the same problem as Skye. I step back and ask jack if we could have a word in the locker room.

He grabs his jacket off the chair, and we head for the locker room. “Jack, I know you have a different fighting form than me, but I also know I could have wiped the mat with you. What has got you so worked up that you can’t think straight”? Jack's facial expression never changes, but he deflates inside. “Good poker face Jack but it doesn’t work with me, I can read emotions, remember”? Now he deflates on the outside as well. “Remind me never to get into a poker game with you”. “Out with-it Jack, I think I know what this is all about. Jack if it helps, I can see the working bond you have with Skye, and I think you want it to be more”.

Jack, raises his head, and looking me in the eye says, “I love Skye”. “So why don’t you tell her”? “She’s a fox, I’m a hare, we aren’t even the same species”. “Jack do you think that love has boundaries? Love has no boundaries, it just happens, jack. Look to my parents, mortal enemies at one time, but now they have a bond in love that is unshakable. Don't let Skye be another regret in your life. Tell her Jack”. “But our jobs…”.

“Jack my parent go out every day knowing that they may not come home together, or maybe at all, but that doesn’t stop them from trying to make the world a better place. Their jobs do not interfere with their love for each other. And their love doesn’t interfere with their job. They both have a love for the job, and some days it's all they can do. But their love brings them together, that's all that matters in the end Jack, Love”.

I leave Jack sitting on the bench, as I exit the locker room. Everyone has finished sparing, so we head home. “Daniel", asks grandma "what were you talking to Jack and Skye about”? “Just how their fighting forms are off”. “It has nothing to do with the fact that they love each other”? It’s my turn to look at grandma. “Daniel, I may not be able to read emotions, but the subtle clues were there. Did you get through to them”? “I believe I did, but only time will tell”.

Jack and Skye get into his black sports car and head back for the office, both embarrassed by what I had said. Both of them were taking sly glances at the other. Both still not knowing what to say. They worked the rest of the day in silence, still taking sly glances at each other across the room. Skye slowly firms up her resolve, and at quitting time comes over to Jack.

“Jack, can I have a word with you in the conference room”? “What’s this about Skye”? “You’ll see”, was all she would say. As the door closes, Skye spins around and pinning Jack to the door, kisses him. Jack is totally surprised, and when Skye lets him go, she has tears in her eyes, “I’m sorry Jack, but you had to know”. With that, she turns away. “Oh, no you don’t you little vixen”, with that Jack tackles her to the ground, and rolling her over, plants one on her muzzle. As their muzzles separate, Jack looks into her eyes. “Don’t you ever turn away from me again Skye, I love you”. “Jack, I have been waiting for you to say that for so long I had given up hope. I thought I would never hear you say those words, Jack I love you too”. The office grows cold as the night falls, except for the conference room where it is very steamy indeed.


	32. new friends

Our routine doesn't change much over the weeks to come, we still go to the DOJO and still practice at the station gym, and we still do our early morning routines. The biggest surprise was Dad. He had the forms down in about a week and was doing them with a desire I had not seen before. “Dad, why are you trying so hard”? “Daniel, I’m doing this so hard, so I can keep up with your mother, I don’t want her to leave me behind ever again”. “Does it have something to do with your scars”? Dad deflates a bit, “yes Daniel it does”. “Can you tell me about it dad”?

“Daniel before we married, we were on a routine patrol we had received a report of some suspicious characters in an alley a few blocks away from where we were. We pulled up to the alley, the cruiser being too big to go down the alley, the perps ran when they saw the cruiser. Well, you know how fast your mother is, she was ahead of me when one of the perps pulled a gun and shot your mother. I managed to trank him before he could put a second bullet into Judy.

I then gathered her up in my arms and turned not knowing the second perp was right behind me, behind the dumpster. He jumped out and clawed my back, I went down to my knees with the pain but wouldn’t let go of her, I got up and I ran. He then picked up the gun and shot me in the shoulder, the bullet didn’t penetrate the shoulder blade, luckily. Your mother in my arms had the presence of mind to trank the second perp, how she made that impossible shot, I’ll never know. She then used my radio to call an ambulance for both of us. I barely got us back to the car, before my legs gave out. We both passed out before the ambulance got there. We were told the perps were just waking up as our fellow officers got there. The perps are doing life for the attempted murder of two police officers.

When I came to, I was flat on my front in a hospital bed, hooked up to all kinds of machines, I even had a catheter in as they didn’t want me to move. Judy looked so small and fragile in the bed next to me. All I wanted to do was hold her, I just kept trying to reach her. A nurse not sure which one pushed our beds together. And I was able to hold her paw. I was so tired I fell asleep.

When I woke up, I had a bunny cuddled up on my left side, we talked and expressed our love for each other. and we have been together since then. We married as soon as we both could walk. We went to the clinic while we were still convalescing. We spent six months off work and had only been back on the job two weeks when the clinic was firebombed. The chief wasn’t happy when we took the week of personal leave thinking we had lost our only chance at having a family. But here you are, our family, all of you”.

I related all this to everyone as dad told it to me. When we got back to the living room everyone was crying and trying to hug mom all at once. When they saw dad, they did the same thing to him. Mom, with a perplexed look on her face, asked, “Nick, do you know what’s going on”? “I told Daniel the shooting story, I guess he told everyone else, kind of beats having to tell it more than once”.

When Jack and Skye return to practice a week later, I could tell something had changed, they both positively glowed. Skye was unbeatable in the ring, we fought to a draw. Her lag time was gone. Jack still wasn’t as good as Skye, but he had a few tricks I had not seen before, so we also fought to a draw. As Jack and I finished, Skye came over and hugged him, and planted one on the top of his head. No need to guess at what had happened. Grandma just gave a knowing smile. Jack looked kind of embarrassed but shrugged and pulling Skye down, plants one on Skye’s muzzle, they hold the kiss a little longer than necessary, they then leave the station arm in arm.

Miss Watts was taking longer to learn the forms, but I wasn't pushing her as I could see the fear she was living with, but it was getting less, and I hoped that we soon could do away with it. She was getting better with our causal attire after swimming, mom even stopped wearing a bathing suit, she was self-conscious but relaxed a bit, when she found the only one looking at her was dad, his state of mind was evident by the protrusion, but he hid it well, mom would just blush at those times.

Rick and Ava had begun to work on their new computer. Rick had the whole house wired with Cat5, and a line running down to the lobby by our elevator. They figured they could have the new computer up and running by Christmas. The Z.CIA had built Rick’s jamming design in various configurations and brought them to Ava for Programing, they had sent a computer programmer over to try to learn Ava’s computer language, but he threw his paws up after several days and stormed out of the house.

It was the middle of October, it was a warm, windy, sunshine day, and we were walking to the park, the whole family was there, grandpa and Davis were talking medical stuff, mom and dad were just strolling down the street. Susan and I were talking and strolling behind them, and grandma was in the middle of the pack holding Ava and Suzie’s paw.

As we came to the park's entrance, two perps came out of the bushes, and grabbing Susan and Rick, and started to run down the street. They didn’t get far, Susan did a double fist punch to the one holding her, and broke his rib. He dropped her, and on the way down, she gave him a good solid kick to his family jewels. As he was doubling up in pain, she kicked off from the pavement, and using the same double fist punch, broke his jaw on the way up. He was out like a light. God, it was good to watch my love in action.

Rick wasn’t as lucky; this guy had a good solid grip, and Rick had no room to move. Mom on the other hand was bouncing off the wall as the perp started to run with Rick. She did a double foot plant in the middle of his back and pushed off with all her might. Dad caught her as she rebounded back at him. But the perp was headed for a face plant on the pavement, he let go of Rick, who rolled out of the way, the perp trying to brace himself landed hard on his right arm, breaking it. He just lay there in pain clutching his arm. Dad was on the phone to the police, when a call for help echoed in our minds.

As one, our heads snap to the direction of the call, it sounded a lot like William. “Grandpa, Davis you’re with me, everyone else stay put”. I got down on all fours and started to run to the call I could still feel. Grandpa who was bigger just loped along beside me; Davis was right on my heels. We came to a secluded section of the park against the back hill. I found a burrow that someone had dug into the hill. As I approached the call got fainter and then faded away. “Grandpa do you have a light”? Grandpa reaches into his pocket and pulls out his penlight, and taking it, I go in.

It’s William all right, but he is badly messed up, he’s still breathing though. Davis goes in to look him over as I crawl out. “Grandpa call an ambulance, there’s a kit in there badly messed up”. Davis comes out asks for something for splints and some bandage material. Grandpa takes his jacket off, and using his claws shreds it into strips, he hands these to Davis. I hand him some small branches I found lying around, he takes it all back in. A few minutes later Davis comes out with a piece of jacket trailing behind him. “Grandpa I need you to pull on this gentle”. Grandpa pulls gentle on the strip, there is some resistance at first, but it starts to come out as the wail of the ambulance could be heard.

When William is pulled out, he’s in worst shape than I thought I can see a bloody bandage around his middle, and left arm, and a splint on both his right arm and right leg, the bone had been protruding out of his leg. The attendants pick him up and put him on the stretcher. Grandpa gives me a look; “Go grandpa we can make our way back to the rest”. He jumps into the ambulance and they take off for the hospital. Dad meets us about halfway across the park. “Dad we need emergency transport to the hospital, William is going to need blood and we are the only ones that can give it to him”. “Daniel, what do you mean”? “Dad, William is as special as us he will have our blood type”. “How do you know this Daniel”? “Dad he can project his emotions as well, and if he can do that, I’m sure that his blood type is the same as ours”. Dad doesn’t question me more he just calls for the transport.

We all arrive at the hospital, and grandma calls Peter. He comes out a few minutes later with the bad news. We all look at his face and can feel the bad news coming. “I'm sorry guys, William is not doing too well, he has lost a lot of blood, and we don't have his type on record. We have nothing we can give him, it's only a matter of time”.

“Grandpa is his blood that unusual”? “Yes, it is, it’s like nothing I have ever seen”. “If you had a universal donor, would that help”? “If such a mammal existed it would be a big help”. All of us jump down and step forward. “Grandpa we are all universal donors”. “Daniel, I know you would like to help, but I don't see as to how you can”. “Peter, says dad, Daniel is telling the truth. Bobby Hofmeyr from the ZPD lab said his blood was universal meaning it could be given to both pred and prey”.

Grandpa’s eyes get big, “you were Hofmeyr’s sample”? “Yes, grandpa I was”. “God, Daniel you and William have the same blood, when he released the study, the medical community laughed at his findings, said he had to be faking it”. “So, can we give”? “We”? “Yes grandpa, we all have the same blood type”. Grandpa gets excited as we are ushered into the emergency ward. Mom and dad and grandma are sitting in chairs, the rest of us are sitting on the bed.

Several nurses rush in and take blood from us all. As we are all feeling a little woose, we just curl up and go to sleep for a while. As I wake up, the adults are talking. I croak for some water. Mom picks up a glass and hands it to me, I drink it all down in one go. “How is he, Grandpa”? “God, Daniel, you did it, you all did it, he’s going to make it”. “That’s good grandpa, you know what this means don’t you”? “No Daniel, what”? I look over at mom and dad, “I think that William is my older brother”.

“Daniel, why would you say that”? “Mom, you always told me that you had six viable embryos, William can do the same stuff as me. He can throw out his emotions, and his blood type is the same as mine. That is in my books way too many coincidences for chance alone”. As we talk the rest of my mates wake up. “Did you all feel William call for help”? My mates and I all nod our heads yes. “I think William is a runaway from an orphanage. With all the negative emotions at an orphanage, I think I would have run away too”. “All right Daniel, Nick, and I will look into it”. “Oh, and one more thing, check to see if another was brought in with William, I don’t see the institute making more than one trip to get rid of unwanted experiments”.

“Grandpa, can we get a DNA test done on William”? “Yes Daniel, that shouldn’t be a problem”. “How soon till he wakes up”? “We have him in a medically induced coma, I'll bring him out about noon tomorrow”. “Can I be there when you wake him up”? “As he has no family members to say no, I believe his friend should be there”.

William slowly comes awake, it takes him a few to realize he is in a hospital. “Oh, good someone heard me”. He then feels the pain. “God, I'm hurt badly”. “Not as bad as you think" comes a reply in feelings. His eyes snap open and he looks around for the person who said that. Not seeing anyone, he wonders if he has finally gone insane. “You’re not insane William, I’ll be in, in a minute", came another feeling.

I slowly open the door and enter. “Hi, William”, “Daniel, that was you”? “Yes, it’s me, and no I’m not going to hurt you”. “Daniel, how can you read my mind”? “I can’t read your mind William; I only can read your emotions, same as you”. “You don’t know anything about me Daniel”, he says with a little bit of venom. “William, I know you are a runaway from an orphanage, I know you have had no training in your gift, and I know how unbearable negative emotions can be”. William deflates a bit, “and I know you need training”. “I’m not going back to that damn orphanage; I’d rather be strung up in a tree than go back”.

“William, you nearly were”. “So, what are you going to do about it”? “You know I can see right through the tough guy act, right? I can see how scared and hurt you are, and I can see the conflicting emotions as you try to decide if you can trust me”. “Are you going to make me trust you”? “It doesn’t work that way, William, I really can’t make you trust me, why would I invite that kind of resentment into my life or yours”? “But I've made people leave me alone, and made them give me their money”. “William no one here faults you for what you had to do to survive”. “Can you tell me how you got beat up as bad as you were when we found you”?

“You're trying something right now”! “No William, I’m not, my sibling are just projecting calm at you”, they all stop at this point. William can feel the world crashing in on him, and lets out with a scream, which in his condition come out like a croak. We all project calm at him, and he settles down fairly quickly. “William we all have natural shields against the outside world, you do not. Would you like to learn some shields”? “YES, GOD, YES”. I project to him how to create a shield, and after a few minutes he has a rudimentary shield, the look on his face as we stop projecting calm to him, was one of peace.

William breaks down, “I’m sorry Daniel, I’ve always been alone, and I hurt so much, it’s hard to trust someone”. “You can trust me, William, I would never do anything to hurt you. If I hurt you, I would feel your pain, which would hurt me, why would I hurt myself”? William chuckled a bit but ends up coughing. “All right Daniel, I believe you. In answer to your earlier question, I was scrounging in the garbage for something to eat”, he blushes, and his emotions say shame. “Hey, I told you no one here is judging you”. “Yes, well, as I was saying I was looking for food when I noticed two guys hanging around the front entrance to the park. So, I snuck up behind one of them and lifted his wallet.

As I turned to run the other one grabbed my arm. I twisted my arm out of his grip and started to run, as I twisted out of his grasp, I ripped a gash in my arm on one of his claws. I ran through the playground equipment bobbing and weaving. I managed to get a head start but they caught me by my tree. The one who's wallet I had, grabbed me and threw me into the tree. My leg was at a bad angle when I hit the tree, I heard it break. As I landed on the ground still clutching his wallet, he ripped it out of my paws opening the gash in my belly. I swore that one was going to kill me, when the other turned to him”, “he's not worth it, we have a job to do, let's go”. “He kicked me in my arm as he walked away. My arm broke, I heard it too. I passed out from the pain. When I came to, I dragged myself to my grave”. He looks up with tears in his eyes, “Daniel I thought I was going to die. With all the pain, I wanted to die. But into all my pain came a voice that told me to try, one last time. So, I called out not expecting a response, and I kept calling until I passed out”.

Mom and dad came in the room at this time. William gets a fearful look on his face; “you brought the cops”? “No William, they brought me. These are my parents; William I’d like you to meet my parents Nick and Judy Wilde”. Mom spoke at this time. “William, we needed the information of your attack, Daniel wore a wire so we could get that information. If we showed you some mug shots do you think you could pick them out”? “One of them anyway, I’ll never forget that look of hatred on his face. So, are you going to arrest me”? “What for William”? “Well, I did just admit to lifting a wallet”. “I didn't hear that did you, Judy”? “Seems to me, all I heard was something about a chase, and being hurt, I didn't hear anything about a wallet. William, you are the victim here not them”.

“William, I’m sorry, I didn’t tell you, but would you have talked to the cops about what happened”? “No Daniel, I wouldn’t, But I would talk to a friend”. He looks at me with hope in his heart and soul. I crawl onto his bed and just hold his good side, “friends”, I say.

Judy turns to Nick as they exit the room, “Nick those two guys were waiting for us”. “How can you be sure fluff”? “Look at who they grabbed, Susan I could understand, but Rick was in the middle of the pack, there were much easier targets than Rick”. “So, if I’m reading you right you think this was an attempted abduction of the O’Hare children”? “Yes Nick, I think it was. William said that they had a job to do, what possible gain could they have for abducting one of our kits? No, Nick, this does add up to attempted abduction of the O'Hare kits”.


	33. Additions

I spent Monday afternoon with William, he was felling a lot better about life, I left just before supper was served. As grandma and I walked home, she asked, “Daniel do you think William is your brother”? “Yes, grandma I do. I asked him about his early kit hood, his memory is not as good as mine, but I found several lab coats in his memory that I have in mine”. “You sure this is not wishful thinking”? “Well, I can’t be certain, but I do think if nothing else we have a bond”. “You have a bond with him”? “Yes, I do, it’s the same as the one I have with all my mates. He is now in my head with the rest of them”. “Wow Daniel, what is this bond based on”? “Our bond is based on trust, he trusts me, grandma”. “Nick was right, you do draw out the best in mammals”.

As we come in the door, we are greeted by JR. “afternoon JR”, “afternoon Daniel. Up to no good I see, keeping the ladies out all day”. “Naw, she was keeping me out”. We laugh as we head for the elevator. When we get to the elevator there is a new paw kiosk at the door. As grandma puts her card in the old slot in the wall, the kiosk comes to life.

**“Please state your name, and put both of your paws on the pad, and look into the camera, please”.** “Wow, Rick and Ava have got the system running”. Grandma steps forward, “Vivian Howler with grandson”. The machine scans her paws and retina. **“Identity confirmed, welcome home Miss Howler. Grandson step forward, put both paws on the pad, state your full name, and look into the camera”.** “Daniel J Wilde”, I state as the system looks me over. **“Identity confirmed, welcome home Daniel”.** the doors open to the elevator and we step inside.

As we come into the house Rick and Ava have a smug look on their faces, “wow that was neat guys. Did you give the computer a name”? “Ask her”. “Computer what is your name”? **“My name is Mavis”.** “So how close is she, and why did you give her a female voice and name”? “We didn’t give that to her, she gave it to herself”. “Ah, guys, Is she sentient”? **“Daniel, I am the first true AI in computers. I gave that name and voice to myself because it puts mammals at ease”.** “Do you listen in on all conversations”? **“No, Daniel, only when you say my name, or ask for the computer”.** “How much control do you have”? **“I have access to the building security monitors, and the telephones”.** “Can you take over other computers”? **“No, Daniel, I can’t, it’s hard for me to operate in the binary language”.**

“What she means to say is it would slow her down drastically to take over another computer”. “But she could”. “Well yes, but it would be like driving at two hundred miles an hour and having to go to walking speed, if you have 1000 miles to go, instead of taking five hours, it would take you 100 days”. “Can she do other things”? “Yes, she can, she’s tied to the phone system, can monitor all video cameras and mics in the building, she has night vision and thermal imaging cameras, all of them are Ricks design, you could even play video games with her”. “You mean she can answer the phone”? “Yes, she can, and will notify the person whom the call is for”. “Can I program a wake-up call”?

“You can do anything within reason, it requires voice print and code confirmation of two household members to make any changes”. “Mavis, I need to set a wake-up call for everyone for five am Monday to Friday Authorization Daniel J Wilde code alpha 9910”. “Mavis, second authorization Ava N Wilde code alpha 9914”. **“Codes accepted level of alarm”?** “Level to be at annoyance factor for the different species living in the house, to gradually increase the longer they remain in bed”. **“Set and done”.** “Thank you, Mavis”. **“Your welcome Daniel”.** “Oh, you know dad’s not going to like that”? “Well, as mom said, he can suck it up”.

We have a wonderful evening; we all go for a late-night swim. The adults soak in the hot tub, and the rest of us frolic in the pool. I have a dream about William, in it, he is running from something, and he wakes up screaming, I send him calm, and peace and he soon settles down and falls back to sleep.

I guess I should have said what kind of annoyance, for the wake-up call. I woke up to a burning sensation in my ears. There was no sound, but the vibrations sure did get me up in a hurry, as soon as my feet hit the floor the burning stopped Susan looked at me with murder in her eyes. I looked at her, “well it worked didn’t it”? She just laughs. We kiss and embrace and use the facilities. I've stopped trying to get her to sleep in her room, but I do kind of like waking up next to her.

“That was very effective Mavis”. **“Why thank you Daniel, but some of the family are a little upset”.** “They’ll get over it”. We head down to the gym, grandma just smirks at me, but dad is in a towering rage. Before he can say anything, I hold up my paw, “it worked, didn't it? You're all here”. Dad calms down a bit, but I can still feel the anger. I push us a little harder, hoping to work off some of the anger. It works to some degree, as no one wants to lynch me at the moment. Dad corners me in the locker room.

“Daniel, I want the alarm changed”. “No dad, I will modify it but I won’t change it”. “Daniel, this alarm takes away my free choice”. “How about this then, Mavis will give you a five-minute warning before she does the burning thing”. “You're adamant about this”? “Yes, dad you want to be able to keep up with mom, don’t you”? Dad deflates, “all right I’ll agree to that”, “Dad I’m sorry I should have specified what kind of annoyance Mavis used”. “Damn right you should have”.

“Mavis, can I modify the alarm please”? **“What would you like to do Daniel”?** “I would like to have a wake-up tune played five minutes before the burning thing”. **“What kind of tune”?** “Dad, do you have one in mind”? Nick thinks for a minute, then gets a smirk on his face. “I want you to play the song “Armageddon”, it just seems fitting to me”. “All right, Mavis do you need full authorization for the modification”? **"No Daniel, you are not changing the alarm just modifying it”.** “Thanks, Mavis”. At the breakfast table, the modification is explained to everyone. Some are still not happy, but some just laugh at the song choice. I can fell the lynch mob has moved away; they only want to prod me with pitchforks now.

We get to the DOJO and I could tell something is different, there s a sense of anticipation. Before I can respond a bag is thrown over my head, and I'm thrown to the center of the room. I roll as I land and come up in my fighting stance. I have just enough time to throw out my feelers and to grab power from the meadow when I am attacked. The first attacks are very tentative but come more frequently and earnestly. I fight for what seems like hours, but could not have been that long. Eventually, the attacks stop, and I could feel the anticipation again. I am drenched in sweat, as I let go of my power, I untie the bag and lift it off my head, I can see it was the masters who had attacked me. As one they fist paw and then turn their backs to me.

The members of the DOJO start to clap, and my family joins in. Mr. Delaront comes over with a big smile on his face, “I knew you could do it, Daniel”. “Do what, I ask”? “We were going to start the final phase of your training, but I convinced the other masters that you didn't need it. So, we went to the final test. Daniel, you passed the final test”. He smiles as he holds out a black Karateka. “Daniel I'm proud to give you a master's Karateka”. “Why did they turn their backs on me”? “Daniel, it’s a sign of respect. You never turn your back on an opponent, but you turn your back to an equal”. “Daniel, you are the youngest member of any DOJO to receive this honor”. “Wow, I’m honored. But I don’t deserve this honor, I cheated”.

You could have heard a pin drop in the room. “How did you cheat, Daniel”? “I used power from the meadow to enhance my abilities”. I hang my head in shame. “Daniel, that is why we knew you would pass. All masters of the art can use the power around them, you just proved I was right”. Susan runs to me and kisses me and hugs me, “I’m so proud of you, Daniel”. Mr. Delaront just smiles at this show of affection. The rest of the day I sit with the masters and give out instructions, I do go and demonstrate some moves to my family.

Nick and Judy start the day with a trip to the hospital to see William. They hand him two big books of pictures to look through. He picks out two suspects as the ones who beat him up. “William, can you tell me which orphanage you ran away from”, asks Judy? “NO, you will take me back”. “William, we are not going to take you back, the hospital will be looking after you for a bit, because no orphanage has the equipment to do so, and things might change by then”. “HOW, how are things going to change”? “Let’s just say that a foster couple has expressed interest in you”. William deflates a bit.

“I ran away from the Ophelia orphanage on Jefferson about four months ago. But please don’t make me go back, I can’t stand it there. They have nothing there good for foxes, they beat me up all the time”. “Who beats you up, William”? The other kits, they keep taunting me and saying I was shifty and no good for anything, and they laughed as they pushed me around. The only one they hurt worse was Izzy”. “Who’s Izzy William”? “Izzy is a fox like me but she has bunny ears”. “William we will do all that is in our power to do, to make sure your life gets better”. Judy leans down and hugs him, “I promise William”. He could see the sincerity in what she said and hugs her back hard. Without a word to Judy, Nick leaves the room.

“Irene, it’s Nick Wilde”, “Hello Nick what can I do for you”? “Irene we are wondering if we can foster a couple of orphans”? “Yes, I believe I can arrange it”. “One of the orphans is in the hospital right now, and the other is still at the Ophelia orphanage on Jefferson”. “Can you give me their names”? “Yes, William is a fox, and is in the hospital, and Izzy who is also a fox is still at the orphanage. We would like to pick up Izzy as soon as possible”. “All right, I’ll fax the paperwork over to the orphanage, also I will notify the hospital”. “Thanks, Irene, this means a lot to us”.

Judy leaves William and heads for the cruiser, she is in a bit of a mood. Judy jumps in the car and after fastening her belt, just sits there thinking. “Nick, we have to do something for them”, “I know fluff”. It’s a few minutes before she realizes that they are not heading for their assigned patrol area. “Nick where are we going”? “We are going to do something”. “Nick, what have you done”? “I…. I may have told Irene that two foxes needed foster parents”. “Nick, you never cease to amaze me. Do you think she could be our daughter”? “How many fox, rabbit, hybrids have you seen? Yes, I think she is our daughter”.

Nick and Judy pull up in front of the orphanage, kits scatter when they see the cruiser. They walk up the steps and in the big front doors. They are met in the reception area by a small black bear. “What can I do for you today officers”? “We would like to see one of the kits in your care”. “Which one”? “A little fox kit named Izzy”. “Oh, you want to see Izzy Angel”. “Why do you call her angel”? “Well, I'm the only one that calls her that, no matter how bad things get, she always has a smile for everyone. She also seems to know things, and it scares the other kits. She also has a visual impairment and doesn’t get out of the way fast enough for some kits. I hear her most nights crying, and calling out for her parents, she even has names for them, she calls them Nick and Judy”.

Nick and Judy falter in their steps but quickly resume their pace. As they enter the play area, they can see her playing with a fox doll, with her back to the wall. She looks up as they enter and they both can see that she is blind, both eyes have a milky color to them. She has short bunny ears but almost as wide as fox ears. She is a burnt umber color with a grey chest. “Hello Dad and Mom, you finally came for me, I knew you would come, and I told William you would, but he couldn’t wait. Miss Sampson I would like you to meet my parents Nick and Judy”.

“Izzy, how can you know that”? “I know things, how I know them I don’t know, they just come to me”. “How do you know William”? “William is my brother; we were born together. The place where we were born, threw us away when we didn't meet their standards. She starts to cry, why would they do that”? Judy hugs her, “well we are here now, and you're coming with us”. “Oh, my word you can’t make a promise to a child like that, it just isn’t fair to them”. “could you check your fax machine, please”?

Miss Sampson heads back to her office, Nick picks up Izzy and follows Miss Sampson, Judy just hugs Nick's Side. Izzy cuddles in under Nick's chin and starts to Chirr. Nick and Judy look at each other with grins on their faces. As they enter the office, they can see the mountain of paperwork waiting for their signatures. “Can I see your foster cards….”? “Yes, you may, I’m Nick Wilde and this is my wife Judy Wilde”.

Miss Sampson’s eyes get big and wide, she doesn’t say anything, just starts to fill out paperwork. “And you are fostering William as well? We don't know where he is, he ran away several months back”. “It's ok Miss Sampson, we know where he is”. About 10 minutes later they leave the building with Izzy. “Nick, we have to talk to the chief”. “Already did, he wasn’t happy, but he understood, and he gave us the rest of the day off to straighten things out”. “I love you, Nick, you appear to be good for something”. “Har, Har fluff”.

Nick and Judy take Izzy for a check-up, as she appears to be in a little pain. Peter gives her a check-up and pronounces her in good shape, but with some bruising. He then does a DNA swab and draws some blood. “Nick, can we go up”? “Sure fluff, he needs to hear the good news as well”. As they enter William’s room, they see Vivian and I, I’m talking to William as I hold him. “Hey mom dad, what are you doing here”? “Well, we're here with some good news”, before they can go on, Izzy lets out with a Shriek, “William”. She lets go of Nick’s paw and making her way to the bed, crawls on, and hugs William. “William your hurt”. “Yes, but I’ll heal”. “Izzy, what are you doing here”? “Our parents brought me”. “What do you mean our parents, wasn’t that just a pipe dream”?” I Mean William, Nick and Judy are our parents”. “How can that be”? “It just is brother”.

“Hello my other brother, may I see your face”? “Um, sure”. Izzy then stretches out her paws and lightly touches My face, it’s kind of weird, but I have no problem with it. “You look like a Daniel, am I right”? “Yes, you are right, how do you know”? “I have seen your face in my dreams, and the name I get is Daniel. Daniel, I need you to do something for me, I need you to do an introspective on yourself, looking through the lens of your promise to someone in the meadow, can you do that? It’s the only promise you made to him”. “Yes, I can do that, why”? “Just do it and the answer will come to you”.

“So, William, Judy and I have signed the paperwork, you will be coming to live with us”. “But what about the foster couple that was interested in me”? “William I was referring to Judy and I”. “You mean Daniel will be my brother”? “Yes, William, along with the rest of the family”. “How many of us are there”? “William, says Izzy, I told you, that we have four siblings and four littermates, there are ten of us all together”. “Is she right”? “Yes William, there will be ten of you”.

“Wow, your house must be crowded”. “Not really, we still have more room. You will leave the hospital when your wound has healed enough for a walking cast to be put on your leg”. “How long is that”? said William dejectedly. “Not sure, the doctor figures about a week. But we will visit every day tell then”. “Could you bring me some peanut butter? That bug spread is disgusting, I eat it, but I don’t like it”. We all laugh, “yes William we will bring you some peanut butter”, says mom.

Grandma and Izzy and I walk home. Mom and Dad return the cruiser and walk home as well, we all meet up in the lobby. "Afternoon JR" says everyone at once. “Well hi everyone, and who are you my little rose”? “I’m Izzy MR. Rathbone”. “Ah Nick, is she one of yours”? “It’s possible JR, we are waiting on DNA results”. “Wow from no family to instant family, to the whole family. Quite a spread Nicholas”. “Yes, it is”.

“Mavis you online”? **“Yes, Nick I’m here”.** “Mavis, we have a new member of the family, this is Izzy”. **“Hello, Izzy Could you speak your name, and place your paws on the pad and face the camera please”?** Nick helps her place her paws and points her at the panel. **“Could you open your eyes please”?** “Ah Mavis, she’s blind”. **“Oh, I’m sorry, voice recognition and paw prints will do”.** “I’m Izzy, where are you”? **“I’m upstairs in the house Izzy. Every one left paws on pad please”.** “Mavis Izzy and I will get off at the pool”. **“Very good Vivian”.**

“Come, Izzy, I think we both need a soak. Now, this is the shower room, we all wash the loose fur off ourselves before we go in the pool or hot tub. Would you like a hand getting the loose fur off”? “Yes please, I haven’t had much practice at doing it right, I mostly did it by feel and with cold water late at night”. “Why is that Izzy”? “Well late at night no one else is around to bother me, and the water is cold because they shut the boilers off by eight”. “Well we have plenty of hot water around here, and if you ever need help, just ask, I'm sure everyone will want to help. Tell me when the water gets too hot”. “Oh, that feels great, that's hot enough thanks. Vivian, may I see your face please”? “Yes, you may Izzy”. Vivian gets down on her knees, Izzy reaches out her paws to feel Vivian’s face.

"Oh, you're my grandmother, thank you, grandma”. “Izzy, how do you know who I am”? “I see faces and names in my head when I feel that face the name is right there”. “Izzy, I notice the old bruises on your body, who has been hurting you”? “The other kits would make fun of me, and beat me when they thought no one was looking. They couldn't tolerate someone different”. “Well, no one here will ever beat on you”. “I know grandma, I can fell the love”. “All right now let me brush you out, I’ll try not to hurt you”. Vivian gently runs the brush all over her, lots of loose fur comes off, and Izzy starts to shine.

“Now Izzy, I’m going to soak, would you like to join me or go swimming”? “Soak please, I’ve never been swimming”. “Well, you can try the pool in the morning”. Vivian lowers Izzy into the hot tub and crawls in herself. “Just relax Izzy, let the waters take your cares of the day, away”. After about 20 minutes, they crawl out, shower, use the blow dryers and head upstairs, it's hard for puddles to move upstairs.


	34. Self doubt

When we get home, I go to my room and start the introspective that Izzy asked me to do. And as I look the more horrified, I get. Not with anyone else but with myself. By the time supper rolls around I'm to worked up to eat. Susan came into the room and asks me if I'm ok. I'm not feeling well I respond, I'm sure it will be better later. She just shrugs and heads to the table. I sink lower, but I firm up my resolve. How could I have let myself get this far? But I didn't "let" myself anything, I just did and that's part of the problem. I have no answers on how to straighten this out, but I have to come clean.

I leave my room after supper and can feel that everyone is in the living room. As I come around the corner into the living room, dad can see something is up. “Daniel you doing ok”? “No dad, I’m not, could I call a family meeting, please”? This gets the attention of everyone, the TV is shut off, along with the radio, and I can see I have their undivided attention. I take a few calming breaths, “if everyone could hold their questions tell after I’m done, I would apricate it. I need to get through this in one go, I don’t think I could if I had to start and stop”.

“The first thing I would like to say is, I’m Sorry. I once promised Gab that I would not be judge, jury, or executioner. And I have become all three. Mom, Dad, I’m sorry I didn't tell you sooner about my siblings and littermates, I hung on to that secret for a year, not wanting to get you involved. I told myself it was because I feared for your safety, but the truth be told, I wanted to be the hero. I wanted to do it all. Dad, I am sorry for how I have treated you. I've run roughshod over you and your feelings, I've butted heads with you trying to take the family over, portraying that I could do it better. I was just being a tyrannical dictator.

I've laid compulsions on you all at one time or another. I've done things to you all, that a family meeting should have been called for, and I alone decided what was best. I'm sorry family I've treated you all badly, and I…I understand if you can't forgive me, I'm having a hard time forgiving myself. Susan, I'm sorry I've hurt you most of all, how can you love someone like me, when I don't love myself. I…I hope you can all forgive me, but I will understand if you can't. Mavis I would like you to cancel my access code, I should not be allowed to run rough over my family, I love them but I haven't treated them very well”. **“Are you sure, Daniel”?** “Yes, Mavis I’m sure”.

“Mavis cancel last request, executive override Nickolas P Wilde omega 1600”. **“Executive override accepted the last request is canceled”.** Susan gets up, and coming over to me, sucker punches me in the solar plex. “You deserve that Daniel”. I lay there with tears in my eyes, trying to catch my breath. “Yes, I do”, I say. “And this is for admitting you have a problem, and asking for help with it”. She then hugs me and kisses me; she kisses me longer than necessary. As we lay there, in each other's arms; dad speaks.

“Daniel…son, I'm glad that you finally see it. I don't know how much longer I could have let you go on. It was hard on me watching you, self destruct. I knew if I confronted you with it, we would have had a fight, and I'm afraid I would have come out the loser. Son you once stopped me from making a big fool out of myself and for that, I am ever grateful, but I couldn't do the same for you. Dad's don't always know what's best for our children, and we hurt when we can't help them. Yes, I could have overridden the alarm at any time, but I saw the merit in it. And I'm sure I'm not the only one that forgives you, but please talk to us? That's what families do. Were not the enemy, son”. I get up, and jump into dad's arms, “I love you dad”, “I love you son”, he says as he kisses the top of my head and hugs me. “You hungry Daniel”? “A little I respond”. “Your supper is in the warming tray”.

As I sit across from Susan eating my supper, I can see her concern, I tighten my resolve and open myself to her fully. I share everything, all my hopes, and dreams, all my wants and desires, and the depths of my insecurities. but most of all I show her my love for her and the family. She's kind of blown away at the depth of it, but then she opens herself up to me, I see her as she sees herself, all her wants and desires, her hopes and dreams, and I feel her love for me and the family. We just stare at each other, my meal is forgotten for the moment. Our bond with each other is now fully formed.

My family comes in, one by one, and forgives me, some give me the warning that what Susan did, they would do worst if I ever tried to go tyrannical dictator again. But through it, all their love for me shone through. Izzy comes in, before she says anything, I grab her in a bear hug. “Thank you, Izzy, I would have never looked if you had not asked me to”. “It’s all right Daniel, I’m just glad I could help, but the one you need to talk to is Gab”. “Izzy I can’t face him right now, I’m so ashamed of what I have done”. “You will face him, Daniel, I don't think you have much choice in the matter”. Grandpa comes in, “Daniel, the compulsion you put on me in the park, was bad, I had no choice in the matter, but if you had not, William might have died while you tried to explain what needed to be done. So, Daniel, I forgive you, but please try to explain yourself a little better next time”? He then reaches over and hugs me. The last one is mom.

“Hey son, I know I don’t say son often enough, it looks like we have a lot in common”. “How’s that mom”? “Daniel, I hurt your father as hard as you just did. That disastrous press conference where I said all predators were savages because it was in their DNA, I lost him, even though at the time I thought I was right. When your dad walked away from me, my heart broke and I lost the will to be a cop. I guess even then I loved him, he was my only friend in Zootopia at the time. And for him to turn his back on me just showed me how far down I had fallen”.

“I had achieved all that I dreamed for, I was a real cop. But the victory was hollow and the job had no meaning without him near me. So, I…I walked away from my dream because my dream had changed. I saw no way to fix what I had broken, and I felt bad for leaving it that way. But then a friend gave me the answer, and I hoped I could find Nick to help me fix things. But I was still broken when I did find him, and he was still walking away from me, I believed I had lost everything. I then bared my soul to him, and he forgave me, I saw myself with some redeeming qualities”.

“We then went on to solve the Nighthowler incident, and while we were limping back to the station, Chief Bogo handed me my badge and told me that the next time I wanted a leave of absence, to fill out the paperwork beforehand. I couldn't stand the thought of not having Nick in my life, so I convinced him to try for the police academy. Unknown to both of us, Chief Bogo had put a word into the academy, that if Nickolas Wilde ever put an application in, that he would endorse it. The point is son, that was the start of our family, your dad and I lifted each other out of the holes we had dug for ourselves, and we did it with love for each other. And I'm sure that the hole you dug for yourself may look deep, but standing from out here, it's not that deep”. “Thanks, mom”, I said as I hugged her.

I dreaded falling asleep, I had nothing left in me to fight with, I was exhausted. But fall asleep I did, and I found myself in the meadow. I just curled into a ball and cried. Gab just walked over and curled around me as I cried. He stroked me and purred at me, and slowly my heart-wrenching sobs stopped. “Feeling better Daniel”? “No Gab, I must be the biggest disappointment to you. I broke the only thing you asked of me, and for what, power? Oh, how I misused that power, what I did with it is unforgivable”.

“Nothing is unforgivable Daniel, your family forgave you, why wouldn't I”? “But Gab, what I did I can’t forgive myself for”. “Daniel, there is an old saying", "power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely". You just had your first taste of power, and you didn't like the results. You got the results you were looking for, but you stepped on people to get it”.

“Power is a force of nature, it is neither good nor bad, it just is. How we use it is another matter, you have to decide how to use it properly”. “Gab I don’t want this power, it hurts too much”. “Those who seek power, are most likely to abuse it. Those who shun power are most likely to use it wisely. Daniel, I believe you are one of the wise ones. As a police officer Daniel, you will be faced with situations and will have to use your power to rectify the situation. And yes Daniel, some of those situations will hurt, but you have to decide to do what is right, and not just convenient”.

“How do I decide what is right”? “Daniel, are you asking me for my help”? “Yes Gab, I need your help. Then your next set of lessons begins tomorrow night. Bring Susan and your Grandparents tomorrow night”. “Ok, and I’m truly sorry Gab. Daniel”, “I forgive you, just as I forgave all the rest”.


	35. Leader in training

I woke the next morning feeling better about myself. Susan was laying across me, and I just started to stroke her ears. She started to chirr and I joined her. The wake-up song started to play, and I found dad had changed it. “you are my sunshine” was now playing from the speaker, and I just broke down in tears again. “I told you, Daniel, we all forgive you; can't you forgive yourself”? “In time yes, but…” “No buts mister, that wasn’t a request”. She lightly punches me in the shoulder as she gets out of bed. I get up and dry my tears, Susan just holds me for a while until I'm more stable, then she lets me go, we both use the facilities and head downstairs.

I just can't face the family today, but Susan drags me to the locker room and I put on a white Karateka. “Daniel, you know that’s not the right color”? “Yes, but how can I stand in front of them and wear the black”? Susan shrugs and exits the locker room. As I exit the locker room, Vivian has already started the class, when she sees me, she breaks form and comes over to me.

“Daniel J Wilde, what do you think you are doing”? Everyone stops and stares at me. “Daniel, why are you wearing white”? “Grandma, it just doesn't feel right, I failed you all, and…” Grandma softens a bit, “Daniel, have you ever hurt anyone here in the DOJO”? “No”. “and have you ever lorded over any of us here in the DOJO”? “No”. “and have you been a fair teacher”? “Ye…yes”. “Then go back into the locker room and come out properly dressed”. “But Grandma…. No buts young mammal, we have a teacher here, and we intend to learn from him”.

“Now are you going to change? or do your dad and I have to come in there and hold you down, while your mother paddles your butt”? “I don’t recommend the latter son, my butt cheek was sore for two days, and I had to sit at an angle”. There were several giggles from around the room. Mom just hugs dad. I give up and go change into my black Karateka. When I come out, mom and dad are surprised at the change. “Ah what’s with the black Daniel”? “Grandma pipes up, Daniel is in truth, a master now”. “Wow, you don’t do things by half measures do you son”? “No, I guess I don’t, do I”?

I see Izzy sitting on the side, “come on Izzy this is for you too”. “But what are we doing”? “We are doing our morning routine”. “Routine”? “Yes, our routine is an exercise to tone our bodies”. “But Daniel, I can’t see you doing it, how will I”? I then send a mental picture to her, “Oh, I can do that”. I lead her over to a clear spot and keeping up the mental pictures, I lead her through the routine. “Wow you weren’t kidding, that was quite the work out”. “Well now comes the fun part”. We all head for the showers and then the pool.

“Ah, grandma could you help me please”? “Sure sweetie, just give me a minute to finish your grandfather”. Peter just turns around, kisses Vivian, and heads for the pool. Vivian brushes Izzy out and more of the old fur is washed away. Instead of dark orange, Izzy is beginning to have the same color as everyone else. Izzy then takes Vivian's hand and they both head for the pool.

“Ah, grandma shouldn’t I be wearing a bathing suit”? “Why Izzy, no one else is”. She squeaks with embarrassment. “Izzy we are all family here, no one will even look at you, weirdly. Just look with your feelings, and you will see”. As they enter the pool, she can feel the fun around her. Vivian leads her to the shallow end of the pool and eases her into it. Izzy starts to panic; she is scared of the water. Ava goes over and helps her. She shows her the rudiments of swimming, and how to float. Soon she’s floating, comfortably in the water. After a while, we all get out, shower, and head for breakfast.

After breakfast, we head for the station. “Morning guys”, says Clawhauser. “Morning Ben”. “Ah, guys am I miss counting, or is there one extra of you today”? “No Ben you are not wrong, this little angel here is my grand kit, Izzy”. Izzy blushes, “Sir, can I see your face”? Clawhauser is wondering about the strange request when he notices her eyes. “Sure, you may little Izzy”.

With that, he reaches over and plucks her off the floor and hugs her. She lets out with a squeal and gently runs her hands over his face. “Oh, you’re a cheetah Mr. Clawhauser”. “That’s right how did you know”? “Did they tell you”? “No sir, I see faces and names in my head, and your face says Clawhauser”. He hugs her again and puts her back on the floor. “Ah, Vivian I believe the chief is looking to talk to you”. “Is he now, Daniel can you start without me? I need to talk with him”. “Sure Grandma, all right everyone to the gym”.

We all enter the gym from the locker rooms, and Fangmyer blanches at seeing me wear the black Karateka. I walk over to her, “I'm still the same person as yesterday Fangmyer, has something changed”? She takes a few gulps, “Daniel, I don’t know what to say, You’re a master”? “Yes, I am, is that a problem”? “Daniel, I have never been taught directly by a master”, “well I can tell you nothing has changed, you get your instructions the same way as before unless you would like me to beat it into you”? I cock my head sideways inquiringly. “No….no regular instruction is fine”, “good I won’t beat on you too much”.

Her form is good so we work on some offensive moves, by the end, she is back to full form, and relaxed around me. “Told you I wouldn't beat on you too much”. “That's not how I feel Daniel, I feel like I have been beaten up”. “Good my plan is working, get her so exhausted she will agree to anything”. “What would you like me to do Daniel”? “I would like you to treat me like anyone else, I have no Aires, and I just want to be your friend”.” I can do that”. “Good, take a break you deserve it”.

Wolford is next, and I can see he has been practicing. So, I teach him some new moves and only beat on him a little. No one else is here today, so I show Izzy some more of the routine. Grandma came back at the end of the session. “Sorry Daniel, the chief kept me longer than anticipated”. I can tell something is up, but after the way, I have treated my family, who am I to judge what someone else may do? We all leave the station and go to the hospital.

“William” Izzy screams as she enters his room. “Izzy Angel, how are you, sis”? “I’m fine bro, I’ve brought the rest of the family for you”. We all shuffle into the room, and my siblings all introduce themselves to William. “Wow, you bunnies are so cute”. Don't call us cute, they all scream. We all start laughing at the look on William's face. “William a bunny may call another bunny cute, but when other mammals do it, they see it as a bit of an insult”. “Oh, sorry guys, I didn’t mean anything by it”, “it’s ok William we saw what you meant by it, that’s why we all laughed”.

We are just sitting around talking when peter walks in. “Oh, high guys”, He then looks over at Vivian, “Oh, where have you been all my life beautiful”? “Well, first I lived on fifty-first Ave. then moved…”. peter shuts her up with a kiss and a hug. William is looking quite scandalized. “Ah, Vivian does your husband know about this doctor”? “I should hope so William, this is my husband”. We all burst out laughing at the look on William’s face. “You mean to say I’m being treated by my grandfather”? “Yes William”. He’s floored and doesn’t know what to say. “William, you have now met all the family, quite an ecliptic bunch, aren’t we”? “Wow, I don't know what to think”. “Still want to join the family”? “Hell yes”. “Ah ah, ah, no foul language young mammal”. “Sorry”, he looks sheepish. Just before we go, “Oh, I almost forgot, William here you go”. Grandma passes two peanut butter sandwiches to William. “Thanks, grandma”, he says as he gobbles one down.

As we are walking home, I look at Vivian and tell her that Gab would like to see her and Peter tonight. “Do you know what it is about Daniel”? “No, grandma, but I’m to bring Susan as well”. “Well, I guess we'll see when we get there”. “You might want to explain to grandpa where we are going, Gab said something about explaining to other people better, I don’t know if he was being serious or just joking”.

Susan and I cuddle close, and our hearts start to beat as one. We both take our grandparents to the meadow. Gab comes to greet us all. Peter looks at Gab, “Do I know you? you seem so familiar to me”. “Yes, Peter you know me, you spent six months with me many years back”. “But I don’t remember you all that well”. “Many don’t remember me at all”. Peter shrugs, “if you say so”. “Peter and Vivian if you would follow me, please? Daniel, Susan, I will be back in a few”. Gab leads them down a trail, and out of sight.

“Now Peter and Vivian, this is a special place, it’s private, calming, and peaceful”. “Why are we here, Gab”? “As I was saying, this is a special place, where you can ask for your heart's desire”. “Will it be granted”? “I don't know, but this is the place to ask. Now what you have to do, is confess your heart's desire to each other, and then ask for that desire in the way that only a couple can. And with that, I will leave you”. Gab walks back to Susan and I.

“Peter looks at Vivian, very cryptic, isn’t he”? “I don’t know, I think I understand him”. “Well, could you explain it to me? I'm a bit lost”. Vivian looks at Peter with tears in her eyes, “Peter love, my heart's desire is to…to bear your pups”. Peter reaches out to hold her. “Vivian love, my heart's desire is for you to be the mother of my pups”. “But…” “No buts Peter, Gab said to ask in the way that only a couple can, shall we”? “What here”? “Yes love, Gab did say we were in a private place”. “Do you think this might work”? “I don't know Pete, but I'm willing to try if you are”. Peter just leans in and kisses her as he lowers her to the ground.

“So, you two, your new lessons start tonight”. “New lessons”? asks Susan. “Yes, Daniel asked for lessons on ethics, and as you wanted to be a cop too, I felt you could benefit as well”. “When did you decide to become a cop”? “Daniel, I decided that when I found that I couldn’t stand the thought of being separated from you. I’m going to be your partner in life, why not on the job as well”? “I love you”, I say, as I kiss her. “Alright, you two, back to the lessons at paw”.

“Now we will start with an easy one, you are standing on a bridge looking down at a rail yard. You notice eight workers on the tracks, repairing them. You then see a lone worker on another track. You look up and see a runaway train barreling down the track with the eight workers on it. Now beside you is a button that can divert the train to the track with the lone worker on it. Do you push the button, and kill one worker, or do you let the train kill the eight workers”? “What if we scream in our mind to the lone worker, as we push the button”? “He looks up and freezes, he still dies as the train runs him over”.

“I see that you have decided to divert the train and only kill one worker. What makes the eight workers more important than the one worker”? “Well, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one”. “Why? What makes eight worth more than one”? “There is a higher chance for good with eight than with one”. “But there is also a higher chance of bad with eight than one”! “Wow Gab, this is an easy one”? “Yes, it’s not so much about getting the right answer, as it is to think of an answer. There is no right or wrong answer, but you have to think”. “Wow, my head hurts already”. “Well, it does become easier, as you see the whole picture. And that’s what this exercise is supposed to help you do, see the big picture. So, shall we move on”?

Vivian wakes up a little later “joined” with her husband and mate. She snuggles back into his chest and starts to purr, his arm comes around to hold her closer. There are no words needed between them, their breathing slows and they both fall back to sleep.


	36. Death in the family

I woke the next morning feeling like my mind had been through a flour sifter. I could feel and see Susan felt no better. “Misery loves company”? I said as she threw a pillow at me. I caught it and put it back on the bed, and whipped the covers off her. She came up with murder in her eyes and a smile on her lips. Which just tasted so sweet early in the morning. We used the facilities and headed down the stairs.

Grandpa and grandma were not here yet so we started without them. “Ah, Daniel, don’t they get the same treatment as I got”? asks Dad. I thought for a minute and had to agree with him. Susan and I linked and went looking for them. We returned a split second later, and both of us blushed a beet red. “Ah, dad grandma and grandpa won’t be joining us this morning”. “How come Daniel”? “We…ll let’s just say, they are doing a different kind of exercise this morning”. Mom and dad turn red like Susan and I, and my siblings just laugh at all of us. We finish our routine, and I show dad and mom a few new moves. When we got to the pool, grandma and grandpa were soaking in the hot tub.

Breakfast was a jovial affair. And a mini food fight broke out with the breakfast rolls, which was quickly quashed by Miss Watts. She was no longer the timid person, as her confidence grew in the DOJO, her personality grew as well. She now had confidence in herself, and it showed. She was cooking breakfast for us all every week morning, as dad had hired her for the five-day week. I’m sure the raise in pay helped too. I could tell she was happier now than when we first met her. I think her happiness stems from the fact that she got to serve a family she loved; she was at ease with us all.

When we got to the DOJO Mr. Delaront noticed a difference in us all, we were a happy lot. “So, Daniel, who’s the new member of your family, and why is she using so much power”? “Who’s using power”, I ask? “The little one over there”. I look to where he is pointing and I see Izzy. I look at her from a PowerPoint and can see the power usage. Wow, I'm impressed, I didn't think someone could hold that much power and not burn up. “That’s Izzy sir, my sister. I don’t know why she is using power, but I think I will ask her”. I walk over to ask, but I could tell she felt me coming. “Daniel, I know what your going to ask, but I can’t tell you just yet, but know that Gab Knows, and I have his blessing”. I let it lie, who am I to judge? Izzy just hugs me and says thanks. I tell Mr. Delaront that she will tell me later. He shrugs and we begin the class.

The next week is a routine week nothing special happens, Grandma is often missing our classes at the station, but I can see this is important to her. then William comes home. Peter has managed to get the use of a small wheelchair for use around the house. William is a holly terror, racing up and down the hall. He is happy that he has a room to himself, but he shares Izzy’s room instead. He is unbeatable at video games and challenges everyone, when he finds out Mavis can play with him, they become an unstoppable team online. "the "Wilders" take hold of some games online, and crush the competition. But I can see he is getting emotional down as the days progress. I try to broach the subject with him, but he just blows me off saying he's fine. Then about a week later “it” happens.

We are walking to the park, and Izzy starts to cough, she collapses to the ground and blood comes out the side of her muzzle. Peter dials 911 for an ambulance, and dad calls for a cab that can take us all to the hospital. Peter jumps in with the ambulance attendants, and they race for the hospital. We wait about five minutes for the large mammal cab, and we head for the hospital too.

Peter meets us at the door with tears in his eyes. Mom and dad start to tear up as well. If. “If you could all follow me please”? Peter leads us not into the emergency department, but down a long quiet hall to a private room at the end. As we step in, I can tell Izzy is not long for this world. I can feel her slipping away, just like Heather did.

“Mom, Dad, I'm sorry, no parent should ever outlive their kits. But I have lived longer than I was supposed to. Gab promised me enough power to put myself back together again every morning. I have been fighting a battle with my body for six months now, ever since it first broke down. Every morning I get up and repair the damage, but every morning I can repair less and less. Gab told me this day would come, and I hoped it would be much later". She coughs and begins again. "My one wish that I made in the meadow, was to see my family, to love my family, and it was granted to me. I'm sorry I was so selfish, but I wanted to meet you all and to love you all. And now I leave a big hole in your hearts, I’m sorry I hurt you. Know that these last two weeks have been the best two weeks of my life”.

“I wish I could stay but it’s not in the cards. May I see you all one last time”? Peter is the first to lean down followed by Vivian, followed by mom and dad, then the rest of us William is the last. “Ah, William I’ll miss you most of all. You were my anchor when times were rough”. William just crawls up on the bed and holds her. “Everyone I’m not going to say goodbye, instead I am saying see you later, for I feel we will all meet again”. She starts to cough, then collapses and breaths her last.

We all mourn in our own way, some howl, some scream, and some just bark, but all of us morn for little Izzy. That night by unspoken consent, all of us sleep in a pile of blankets in the living room, no one wants to be alone. The Coroner concludes that Izzy died of “catastrophic organ failure” cause unknown, with the amount of damage he was surprised she lived as long as she did.

Izzy wakes in the meadow. “Ah Izzy girl, I’m sorry this day has come, but come it had to”.” I know Gab, I’m just sorry that I hurt them all, and tore a piece of their hearts away”. “Izzy, you take nothing from them that was not freely given. And you gave far more in return”. “What did I give them, Gab”? “Izzy you made them stronger as individuals now”. “Gab how long have you been here”?” Izzy, I was here at the beginning, and I will be here at the end”. “Are you God”? “No Izzy I am not God. I'm just a teacher/guidance counselor”. “Gab will I ever see my family again”? “I don’t know Izzy, but all your questions will be answered on the other side of the veil”. “Thank you, Gab, for being my friend”. “Your welcome Izzy". Izzy and Gab hug, Izzy steps forward to the Veil, turns and waves to Gab as she steps through. Gab turns and walks to another part of the meadow.

We hold the service on Thursday. We don't inter little Izzy, instead we mount a plexiglass cube in the courtyard under the juniper tree, and put her urn inside. It seems strange to say this but, she was always in the dark, we wanted her to be in the light. To the front of the case, one of my many drawings of her is mounted. Inside the bottom of the case are several small drawing books filled with pictures of Izzy.


	37. New additions 2

After a few weeks’ things start to return to normal. We start to laugh, and play again. Susan and I go for nightly ethics puzzles, and we begin to see what Gab meant about a different way of thinking. Gab request the we bring Mom and Dad tomorrow night. How do we explain the meadow to them? At supper the following night we broach the subject.

“Mom, Dad, Gab has requested that we bring you to the meadow tonight”. “Why would your imaginary friend want us”? “I don’t know dad, but he’s not really imaginary, he does exist”. “Well I suppose we could, do we have to do anything special”? “No dad, Susan and I will link with you and mom, bringing you to the meadow”. “I’ve always wonder if this place you guys talk about is real”, says mom. “Believe me mom, it’s real”. “Ok, son, if you say so”. As we start to fall asleep, we sync up, and link up with mom and dad, and head for the meadow.

We head over the rise, and go to wake up mom and dad. “Wake up dad, mom”. They both sit up, stretch and yawn. As they look around, dad is still a bit skeptical. “Daniel, I felt your bond with Susan as you linked up, are you sure this isn’t a dream”? “No, Nick this is not a dream”, says Gab walking over. Dad is kind of startled, but he hides it. “So, where are we”? “Well Nick you are in the meadow, the meadow is halfway to dreaming from wakefulness”. “So where is that”? “Ah, a skeptic, let’s just say that the meadow is on a different plain of existence”. “So, what would you like us for”? “Nick, stop being so rude”. “It’s ok Judy, a little skepticism is a good thing. To answer your question, I need you to follow me”.

“Daniel, Susan, no classes tonight”. “All right Gab”. Susan and I just blink out. “Where did they go”? “They just went to dream land”. Nick and Judy get up and follow Gab. He leads them to a small glade. “Gab have you been training Daniel”? “And the rest”, answers Gab. “So, you trained him in his gift”? “Yes Nick, I have trained him in many things, and will continue to do so as he gets older”. “So, is his bond with Susan real”? “Yes, it’s real, but I didn’t train them in that, they trained themselves”. “Will it hurt them in the long run”? “I don’t believe it will, they have a bond that only death will shake”. “And do they love each other”? “Yes, Nick they love each other”.

“But that’s not why I brought you here tonight, tonight is for you two. This glad is private, secure, and peaceful. You can use your time here to meditate, talk to each other, or just hold each other. This is also a place to confess one’s hearts desire to each other, and then ask for that desire in the way only a couple can. I must leave you, use your time wisely”.

“Nick did you understand what he meant”? “I believe I do, Judy my hearts desire is for you to have my children”. “We already have children”. “You misunderstand fluff, I want to put kits in your belly”. “Oh, Nick I want that too, I want to feel the kit growing inside me, I want to feel them kick, I want to have the morning sickness, well maybe not that, I want to have the pain of child birth, I want to feel like a mother”.

“Then Judy my love, we need to ask like only a couple can”. Judy squeaks, “here, in the open”? “Gab did say we were private”. “I don’t know Nick”, “it will be all right love, I won’t push you”. “Oh, Nick I guess it can’t hurt to ask can it”? “I don’t know, why don’t we find out”. As they lay down and bring there lips together.

Judy wakes up “locked” in the embrace of her husband. He pulls her closer and starts to purr. Judy snuggles in tight, and starts to chirr. They fall back asleep in each others arms.

I wake up feeling refreshed, Susan wakes up and turns to me for a kiss. We kiss for a little while till the alarm goes off. We get up and head down stairs. We have family members missing again, but we start the routine. “Ah, Daniel, should we not get your parents down here”? I guess we should, I’m dreading what I will find, but Susan links with me and we go look.

We come back a split second later, and we both turn beet red; everyone laughs, grandma doesn’t get the joke. “Daniel what is it”? “Ah, they aren’t coming this morning, they are doing another form of exercise”. grandpa falls down laughing as he gets it. grandma just stands there till it finally dawns on her what I meant. “Daniel did this happen before”? ‘Yes grandma, the morning you and grandpa didn’t show up”. Grandpa just starts to howl as grandma turns a dark red.

About two weeks before Christmas, the morning sickness hits both mom and Grandma, at this point they are just starting to show. they think they have gotten a flu bug, but Susan and I can see the new life force in them, we just look over with knowing smiles, which puzzles them both. The gestation for rabbits is not as long as for foxes so the kits, and the pups should be born at the same time. We’re dying to tell them, and then I come up with a plan. Miss Watts gets what we need, and we put it into action the next day.

Davis has been making a protein shake for them both, and this helps with the morning sickness. They’re both sitting on the couch when we all come in. “So, mom’s, what are you going to name them”. “What are you talking about Daniel? And why are you calling us mom’s”? “Well I just thought by now Grandma you would have connected the dots, does any of this feel familiar”?

Grandma thinks for a minute, and her eyes get big and wide. “Daniel, I can’t be, I’m to old”. “Well why don’t you find out”? I hand her a pregnancy test. The whole-time mom is taking this in and she come to the same conclusion. “Daniel, I can’t be pregnant your father and I are just two different species”. “Humor me mom, here’s one for you too”. They both head for their own bathrooms. A bit later we hear a howl from grandma’s bedroom followed by a scream from the master bedroom.

They both rush out and clutch each other. “Daniel, how did you know”? “Susan and I can see the life energy inside of you both, we wanted to tell you earlier, but I don’t think you would have believed us till the morning sickness started”. “Oh, God how are we going to tell our husbands”? “Well, you could fix them a fancy meal and hand them gift boxes”. With that I hand them two boxes just the right size for pregnancy tests. “Daniel, theirs’s that wicked sense of humor again, but I like it”.

Grandpa and dad come in the door about 10 minutes apart, grandpa is in a chipper mood and dad looks exhausted. “Long day dad”? “You know it son, parking duty is the roughest form of punishment”. “Well guys you’ll be happy to know supper’s ready. Go wash up kits”, “ahh, mom”, “don’t ah mom me, move now”. we go wash up. Then we come back, and sit down, everyone starts to eat. “Wow this is good love, what’s the occasion”? “You’ll see”, was all they would say. As the desert is served, mom and grandma pull out the boxes.

“Here you two, Judy and I have little gifts for you”. Mom hands dad her box, and grandma hands grandpa his. They open them at the same time and look in. The shocked look on their faces was priceless. Susan and I took pictures with mom and grandma’s phones. “Is this real”? asks dad. Grandpa gets up, and going to his bathroom comes back with a stethoscope, he puts it to grandma’s belly, the look of wonder on his face a few seconds later, says it all. He then shifts over to mom and puts the stethoscope on mom. He then takes the ear pieces out and passes them over to dad, dad puts them in his ears and hears the heart beat for himself. Both dad and grandpa kiss their mates passionately.

“So, when do you figure they are due”? Grandpa just looks at dad “can’t say right now”. I look at them both, “about 31 days guys”. “Daniel, how can you know that”? “Ah, I just counted from the day of conception”, I turn red at this point. “Daniel, how do you know the time of conception”? “I’m counting from the day you were missing from the DOJO”. Well, says grandpa, “Gab did say to ask as only a couple could”. Dad gets a surprised look on his face, “he told Judy and I the same thing. So, this meadow is real”. “It was as real as I could see”.

Mom and grandma were snuck into the hospital by grandpa, and he gave them both an ultrasound. With pictures in hand, we went to Bunny Borrow for Christmas. There were so many of us that we booked a compartment for us all. All us kits had our noses pressed to the glass as we watched the scenery go by.

Stu and Bonnie had rented a large mammal van for the holidays, so we could move around easily. We all come into the Burrow, the adults manage to side step the kerfuffle, but the rest of us are taken away. Mom and grandma keep their jackets on till the kitchen.

“Judy dear, are you putting on weight”? asks Bonnie. “Yes, mom I am putting on weight”. “Won’t that interfere with your job”? “Well, yes, for about six months”. “Why six months”? Judy takes off her jacket, and turns around. “That’s how much maternity leave I have”. Bonnie’s paws fly to her mouth and she looks like she is ready to pass out. “You wicked, wicked doe you, your mother looks like she is ready to faint”, says Nick. Stu looks like a fish out of water.

“Who’s the buck dear, asks Bonnie”? Once she gets herself under control. “Mom, I have never slept with anyone else. Nick was my first, and he will be my last”. Nick leans down and kisses her. “But how is this possible”? “We don’t know”, she then holds out the picture of the ultra sound. “But as you can see, she is definitely a vixen, with short rabbit style ears”. “My word, when did this happen”? “About six weeks ago”. “So, she is due in two weeks”? “Well yes, about the time that Nicks brother is born”.

Vivian having taken off her jacket turns around. Again, Stu does his fish out of water impression, and this time Bonnie Does faint. When Bonnie comes too, she can’t find any words. Vivian holds out her ultrasound. “As you can see, he is a wolf, with a fairly long tail, Peter and I feel that it would be fluffy like a fox tail”. “but how”? “Don’t know, but we love them already”.

“Couldn’t you have given us some warning”? asks Stu. “We could have, but where’s the fun in that”, reply’s Judy with a grin. Stu goes to the cabinet and pulls out two bottles, places one on the table, and hanging on to the other fills a glass and drains it in one go. Judy and Vivian get juice from the fridge, and everyone else has a drink.

We are taken to the play room by the Kerfuffle. William decides he is the “frankinfox” monster. He does big slow steeps, and moans loudly. The kerfuffle squeals in glee and darting in and out, try to touch the monster before he can get them. he catches a few, and blowing razzberries on their stomachs, pretends to eat them. Susan and I start the routine in the corner of the room. Soon the ones that remember the routine from the summer, join us. Suzy has some, singing Christmas carols in the other corner. Some continue to play, but others come over to watch. An adult sticks her head in to see why it got quiet in the room. She shakes her head, and closes the door.

Soon the same adult sticks her head back in, and hollers that it’s supper time. On mass we leave the room, and head for the washrooms to clean up. “Daniel, can you remember your way to the small kitchen”? I nod my head yes; “good your parents are waiting for you there”. I lead everyone to the small kitchen.

“Hey son, have fun”? “Yes dad”, all us guys answer. Dad just shakes his head, “William, son, can you come over here please”? William is still not sure about calling Nick dad, but he goes over. “Stu Bonnie, I’d like you to meet William, Daniel’s older brother”. “Well hello William, aren’t you the cute little mammal”. Bonnie leans down and picks him up for a hug. “Nick are you sure? there was a lot of confusion back then”.

“From the records we could find, William was born about two months before Daniel and his littermates. He was born to a rabbit. Along with his sister”. “Was this the one who passed”? “Yes Stu, we have a little memorial down in the court yard at the house. You guys are welcome to visit after the kit, and pup are born”. Stu looks at Bonnie, “we would love to visit, would the last weekend in January be good”? “That would be fine, Peter can you pick them up at the train station”? Peter nods his head yes. “Ok, just let us know which one you will be on”.</P.


	38. Birthing and naming

Christmas at Bunny Borrow went well, mom and grandma complained a lot and Bonnie looked at them and just smiled. Missed the big ball drop again this year, but I don't feel bad, so did everyone else. I think we were all asleep on the couch before 10 o'clock. The due date was slowly approaching, grandpa had taken to parking his car in the VIP section, just for a quick getaway to the hospital. We all heard mom's mental scream as the first contraction hits. Grandpa just scoped mom up and headed for his car.

Dad called a cab for the rest of us. Dad was a nervous wreck he paced around the waiting room, till grandpa came in and took him to the delivery room. “There you are you orange fur ball, get your butt over here…re. Nickolas P Wilde, you are not doing this to me again”, Judy lets out a scream as the next contraction hit. “You are getting a vasectomy; I’m not going through this again”. Nick just holds her, as the contractions become closer and closer. “All right Judy just one more push, her head is just about out”. Judy pushes again and their daughter is born. Peter takes her cleans her up, and lays her at a teat. She starts to suck hungrily. “Oh, Nick she's perfect, she's the spitting image of little Izzy”. “She is, isn’t she”?

“Nick can we call her…” “no Judy, I think that would be just too much at this time. But what if we call her Elisabeth? We can shorten it to Izzy when she is older”. “Oh, Nick that’s perfect, but I want to add Heather”. “Why Heather”? “Nick Heather is sweet to us bunnies, and she is our sweetness. Also, that was the name of the fox that gave birth to all our kits”. “Elisabeth Heather Wilde, I like that”. “Then that’s her name”. Nick and Judy kiss while Elisabeth suckles. They just hold each other, when Judy Screams again.

“Nick go get Peter somethings wrong”. Nick rushes out and nearly runs over Peter. “Peter she in pain”. Peter comes in and does a quick pelvic exam, he then pulls out his stethoscope and lays it on her belly. He gets a big grin, “I’m sorry Judy you will just have to put up with some more pain, seems your second kit wants to be born too”.

They both just at him in shock. “How Peter”? “Well, it’s not unheard of for only one kit to show up on the ultrasound, sometimes one is hiding behind the other”. Shortly thereafter their second kit is born. He is a perfect bunny, just a burnt umber color, with a cream-colored chest. Peter then cleans him up, and he starts to suckle right away. Judy looks at Nick, “would it be too much if we call him Justin”? “No love, I think they would be honored. But I would like to add Jerry”. “Why Nick”? “When he gets older, we can call him J.J”.

We are all allowed to visit mom, “Hey guys I'd like you to meet your brother and sister. This little guy is Justin Jerry Wilde, and Your sister is Elisabeth Heather Wilde”. Susan just hugs mom, “Thank you”. Peter comes back in and gives them a quick check-up now that they have finished eating. “They appear to be healthy; I see nothing to worry about”. “Peter honey”, it takes a bit for her to get his attention. “Peter you'll either have to make room on Judy's bed, or get me to my delivery room, my water just broke, and your son is on his way”.

Peter is all a flutter, and can’t concentrate. The doctor on call comes in and takes over. Peter just holds Vivian. He blurts out a line from an old movie. “GREAT SCOTT”, Vivian looks at him with a puzzled look. “Sorry love, I’m just traveling back in time, and I never thought I would do this again”. She kisses him just before the next contraction. Vivian takes a little longer to deliver, but soon Peter is holding his son.

“Hello little guy, what do we call you”? “Peter honey you already named him”. Peter gets a puzzled look on his face. “You called him Scott”. “I did, didn’t I? Well, Scott my lad welcome to the family”. Scott is an orange wolf, with a white chest. He has a longer than normal tail for a wolf, and it is fluffy like a fox's tail. He lays his son on Vivian's chest and watches in awe as he suckles. We are all led in to see our uncle. Dad is kind of nervous, he now has a brother. Peter slaps dad on the back, “our wives did well, didn’t they”? “Yes, Yes, they did”, reply’s Nick.

Life goes on, the two hours between feeding did not seem long enough for the ladies. They were both frazzled. The kits screamed in our minds, and it was hard for us to sleep as well. Mom's milk dried up about a week later, mom was disappointed, but Peter told her it does happen it’s not unusual. Grandma was producing more than enough for all three. The three of them were carried around all together in one bassinet. I started to train mom and dad again, and we had more time to do so. Vivian was still off-balance with the milk breasts, but she was determined to do the isometrics to stay in shape. Miss Watts was enamored with the new additions and doted on them every chance she got.

Stu and Bonnie showed up at the end of the month. As they came into the house, they were mobbed by us, hugs and kisses went around to all. “So where is your sister”? she asked me. “Ah, grandma has them at the moment, it’s feeding time”. I lead her into the kitchen where grandma is sitting in a nursing chair. Mom is having a coffee, when she sees her mother she jumps into her embrace.

“Mom dad, welcome, I didn’t hear you come in”. she then hugs her dad. “Would you like to see your latest grand kits”? “Grand kits Judy dear”? “Yes mom, Nick and I had two”. “Come, come, over here”. Judy goes over to Vivian and lifts Justin for them to see, he lets out a scream as he wasn't finished eating. He struggles for a bit and settles down.

Bonnie throws her paws to her muzzle, and then slowly reaches out for him. Mom then picks up Elisabeth and hands her to her dad. “Aren’t they the most perfect kits? He is Justin Jerry Wilde, and She is Elisabeth Heather Wilde”. “God Judy, they are beautiful”, exclaims Stu as he starts to cry. “Oh, Stu”, says Bonnie.

Justin starts to fuss again, “this greedy git, is hungry all the time”. She switches the kits her parents are holding, and Stu marvels at his color. “Judy he’s orange”. “Yes dad, he is burnt umber color. But watch out for his feet, he can pack a mean wallop when he wants his way”. "You don't have to tell us, you were the same way at that age". Stu paws Justin back, and Judy puts him back on Vivian.

She picks up Scott, who had been sleeping on his mother and passes him to her dad. “And this little guy is Scott Howler, Nicks Brother”. Scott lets out with a cute yawn as he stretches, and proceeds to soils his diaper in Stu’s paw. “That sure does bring back memories”, Stu says, as he paws him back. The women all laugh at the look of distaste on Stu’s face.

Stu and Bonnie had a wonderful weekend, and there were tears when they left. Dad promised we would visit soon. Two more weeks went by, and the kits and pup were just learning how to run around on all fours. We all kept tabs on them, so they wouldn’t get into trouble. Now I understand what we put DeDe through, I would have to apologize to her sometime.

A few more weeks went by before the assault on the house happened.


	39. Defence

It was the beginning of March, on a cold rainy night. When Mavis woke us all up. **“Family I have detected a problem. Seems that someone is trying to break into the emergency stairs. It's hard to see numbers through the rain, but I estimate 6 individuals. They will be through the door in approximately 30 seconds, and be up here in about 60 more seconds”.** “Right Mavis”, says dad. Mom and dad jump into action, they get their body armor on and get their guns out of the safe.

They come into the hallway at the same time as Vivian comes out of her room in body armor holding a mark 10 recoilless. “Mom where did you get that cannon”? “I bought it, dear. And before you ask, yes, I am qualified, and I have a concealed carry permit”. “Mavis call the ZPD we are going to need help”. **“Already called ETA 7 minutes”.** “All right everyone no heroics, we only need to keep them occupied tell the Calvary gets here”. Us kits all run into Grandma's bedroom as the door at the end of the hall bows in under pressure.

“Mavis counter measurers at the end of the hall please”. A small smoke screen happens at the end of the hall. The door is knocked off its hinges and the perps enter. They wait for all the perps to fully enter before they open fire. It's a short firefight, with no cover the perps are hit multiple times and they all go down.

There is then the sound of breaking glass coming from the living room. Mom keeps the perps covered at the end of the hall, while dad and Vivian turn towards this new threat. Four perps come around the corner, only to meet a hail of gunfire. They all go down, but one gets off a lucky shot and hits Vivian in the leg. She goes down and Peter drags her into the bedroom and slams the door. It is eerily quiet in the house while they wait for the ZPD tack team, none of the perps are moving. The tack team enters with Alfred in tow. They secure the area and call for ambulances.

Dad and mom rush to grandma’s room to see how she is doing. “Peter get off me it’s not that bad, It’s just a flesh wound”. Dad can see she's right but Peter is holding her tight and crying. “Mavis, how could you miss the four other perps on the roof”? **“They were not on the roof Nick; they were lowered from a helicopter. You were already engaged, and I didn’t want to destroy your concertation”.** “Right thanks Mavis”. Vivian starts to cry, “oh God, I've killed someone”. Nick comes over and hugs her. “Mom you did what needed to be done, if you hadn’t things could have turned out a lot different. They were aiming to kill us and take the O’Hare kits”. “I know son, but it still doesn’t feel right”. “I know ma, it never feels right taking someone else’s life”. Peter bandages her wound, crying all the time as he did so. “It could have been so much worst Vivian”, says Peter. “I could have lost you”. “Well sorry, my husband you are stuck with me. And Putting a serious look on her face asks, “Nick, do you know how to get the smell of milk out of body armor”?

All the perps are loaded into ambulances and taken to the hospital. Chief Bogo shows up about ten minutes later. “Well, I see that your thoughts were bang on”. He says this, looking at grandma. “Yes, chief sir”. He comes over and kneeling looks at her, “how are you doing”? “Chief it’s not easy, but with the help of my family, I will get through this”. “Right, Wilde’s, I want a full report on my desk tomorrow afternoon”. “Yes Chief, do we get hazard pay”? Chief Bogo just shakes his head and leaves the kitchen.

“Alfred, Sorry about the mess, do you have another place we can stay for the night”? “Yes, I believe that apt 3B is available”. “Can we get this cleaned up somehow”? “I have already called building maintenance; we should have this set to rights by tomorrow night”. “Wow, that's quick”. “We are prepared for something like this, don’t worry I’ll look after it”. “Thanks, Alfred”. We all grab a change of clothes and some blankets and head down. 3B is only a two-bedroom apartment, so mom and dad get one room, grandma and grandpa, and the pup and kits take the other. The rest of us, all sleep in a pile on the Livingroom floor.

We can feel grandma crying most of the night, and Peter just holding her. The next morning, we are all tired, no one got much sleep last night. We go up to the gym, but no one has much heart, we go through the routine, but it's lackluster. Instead of swimming we all just soak in the hot tub. We can hear repair noises from upstairs.

“Mom when did you get training for that gun? And how did you get a carry permit”? “Well son, I’ve been skipping our practices at the station to get training from the arms master. When I explained what happened at the park in October, the chief agreed that is was a possible abduction. So, I asked him for pistol training so I could defend the kits from a distance. I already have close combat training, and I wanted to be better prepared just in case. The arms master was reluctant, but I convinced him I could do it. I started with a mark six, like Judy, and was getting scores consistent with marksman level. We then started to go up in size, tell I was consistent with a mark ten. The Chief gave me the carry permit, to protect the O’Hare children”. “Wow mom I’m impressed, I’m glad you were there to help us, I don’t think Judy and I could have taken them all without injury”.

Later Nick and grandma are having coffee in the kitchen. “Nick, how do you deal with the fact you may have to take a life”? Nick deflates a bit, “mom I take it one day at a time. I try not to think about it. If it happens, I try to make peace with God. But I make sure that there is no other way, and that all other options are closed to me, then I pull the trigger”. “Nick, have you had to kill in the line of duty”? “Yes ma, I have. And I beat myself up for weeks over it. I played “what if” tell I had myself so wound up; I couldn’t think straight. Judy talked me down, and without her love, I don’t know how far I would have gone”.

“Does the idea about shooting someone come any easier”? “God, I hope not ma, if it did, I think I would quit the force, I don't want that kind of power. I don't want to choose life or death for someone else. But I will if I have no choice, like last night. They were going to kill us ma. There were ten guns to the two guns that they knew were at the house. They had light armor for protection from the mark six and seven, but their armor was not good enough for the mark ten. Mom, don’t think of it like you had a choice, we had no choice, we had no other options”. “It still doesn’t make it any easier, Nick”. “I know ma, but you saved us all with that canon, and I for one am glad you had it”. Nick hugs his mother, and they just cry on each other's shoulder.

We move back into the house at supper time. The smell of fresh paint is the only clue to the firefight the night before. The emergency stairs door has been replaced with a stronger one, with inside bracing that can be removed with a flick of the wrist. We all learn how to open it so that whoever gets there first can have it open for the rest. Supper is a somber affair, with not much talking we all go to bed early, Susan and I just crawl into our bed and hold each other, we sync up and picking up grandma, grandpa, mom and dad head for the meadow.

Gab is waiting for us all. “Susan, Daniel, no lessons for tonight”, “right Gab”, we blink out. “Gab did you request for us to be here”? “No Nick, I didn’t, Daniel and Susan thought it would be a good idea for you to come tonight, in case you had some questions for me”. Ask questions of Gab they did, at the end of the session, everyone was feeling better about what happened, they still weren’t happy but this session helped them all on the road to recovery. The next morning, Susan and I got hugs from them all, expressing their thanks.


	40. Court Summons

Things return to normal. Just before the end of our parent's mat leave, I take mom and dad to the DOJO for testing. Mom and dad both earn a purple belt, I'm so proud of them both. I ask Mr. Delaront if I could try to help Maurice with his problem of overextending. He is willing to try something new, as he can't seem to get through to him.

I walk up to Maurice and ask him if I can try to help him with his problem. I can see the resentment he has for me, but I can also see the desperation and defeat he is feeling. He agrees to try something new. The masters watch with interest as I hang a mat from the first-floor balcony. I gauge Marcie's reach and have him stand just inside his reach I put a tape line on the floor, then I ask him to punch at the mat, but to not touch it. He throws a few punches and hits the mat every time. He then concentrates a little harder, and the mat begins to move less and less. I am done for the day, so I ask him to do it for an hour a day.

When I come back on Friday, the mat still moves, but ever so slightly. By next Wednesday the mat moves not at all. I then turn him sideways, and judging his reach, put a new tape line on the floor. I then have him punch at the mat again, the mat moves once more. He switches sides at the line and punches at the mat again. It moves quite a bit. I then have him do this again, from his left side to his right side, for two hours a day. He can’t see why I’m asking him to do this, but he still willing to try anything.

After two weeks the mat again moves not at all. I then have him mix the moves up, and again the mat moves, but ever so slightly. By Monday the mat again moves not at all. I then attack him. I’m faster than he is, but he has more power and reach. But now he is holding himself tighter and is not overextending himself. After a few minutes, Mr. Delaront calls enough. We both bow to Mr. Delaront as he walks over. He whips Maurice's brown belt off and immediately ties a black one around his waist. Maurice looks down at his belt, then looks at me, and gives me a big hug "thank you" was all he said.

“Daniel, I had my doubts, but you have proven you are a master. This new exercise we will incorporate into our teaching, well done”.

So now here comes our birthday. How do we celibate? By going to the amusement park. We are all Gaga at the sights and sounds and the games. Terry is good at the games. We are all holding stuffed plushies from the kiosks. We all go on several rides, William, the tough guy, gets sick on the octopus. But the food, oh, the food. We try everything without sugar on it, we don't want a repeat of our first birthday. By the end of the day, we fall down when we get home. We all crawl into bed and are asleep as our heads hit the pillows. Mom and dad pay Mis Watts some extra for watching the kits and the pup. She tries to refuse, but dad insists. She takes the money and thanks dad profusely. Two days later Rocky shows up at the house.

“Rocky, to what do we owe this visit”? Vivian just hugs him as she says this. At this point, Scott runs through the hall, with Elisabeth and Justin in hot pursuit. “Whoa, who are these guys”? “Scott honey come here please”? Scott comes over, Elisabeth and Justin are right behind him, they all sit down on their haunches and look at Mr. Martin. “Rocky, I would like to introduce my son Scott, and Nick and Judy’s kits Elisabeth and Justin”. Rocky is floored, “you had a pup”? “Yes, Rocky, Peter, and I had a son”. “God, he’s cute, he’s going to be a lady killer when he grows up. And these two, when did this happen”? “At the same time in January”. “And Judy is the mother”? “Yes, Rocky, we both carried them to term, no outside intervention”. “Wow, that’s amazing”. “Come in, lets have a coffee”.

Rocky sits down with his coffee and gets to the point. “Vivian, I need to speak to Nick and Judy. The precinct said they were home”. “Yes, they’re both home, but Nick goes back to work tomorrow, Judy returns in three weeks. Mavis, can you tell Nick and Judy that Rocky is here to speak to them”? **“Right away……. They said they would shower first and be right up”.** “Thanks, Mavis”.

“Who’s the new member of the family”? Vivian looks at him with her head cocked sideways. “The person you were just talking to”. Vivian laughs, “Rocky that was no person, that was Mavis the house AI”. “She’s a computer”? **“No Rocky, I am an AI, Ava and Rick created me”.** “Rocky I won’t pretend to understand what they have created, but Mavis is to a computer, like a gun is to a stone. Both can kill, but one is a little more sophisticated”. “And they built her with the components a got for them”? “Yes Rocky, both of them are some kind of geniuses”.

“Rick designed and wired the computer, and Ava programmed it with a trinary computer language only she understands. She has tried to teach others her language, but they throw up their hands and claim it’s impossible”. Just then the front door opens. “Ah, Rocky if nudity bothers you turn away now, we don’t wear clothes when we come up from the shower room. We’re all family after all”.

We all come into the kitchen for drinks, after getting dressed. “Hi Mr. Martin”, “Hi kits”. Scott and Elizabeth and Justin are all underfoot, trying to get attention. Dad grabs Elisabeth and blows razzberries on her tummy till she giggles. Mom grabs Justin and tickles him. Mom and dad then switch kits and repeat the procedure. Scott just jumps in his mom's lap and cuddles. “So, Rocky what brings you to our menagerie”? “Well Nick, I would like to say it was something good…. But it’s not. I have here a summons to court for you”. “What’s it about, Rocky”? “Your guardianship is being contested”. “Who by”? “It’s being contested by Larry O’Hare”. “May I see that Mr. Martin”? “Yes”, he says as he hands it to Cindy. Cindy reads through it, “That cockroach, that lying cheating cockroach”.

“Ah, Cindy can you tell me what it says”? “In a nutshell dad, it says that you two are unfit parents. Dad, he says that you are a lying cheating con mammal, and can't be trusted. Mom, he says that you are too meek and mild to be an effective parent, and not knowledgeable about city living, seeing as you are from the sticks. He also says you two are never home and would neglect our education. He goes on to say that you are taking advantage of us, and our inheritance, and that he would make a better Guardian because he is family”.

“Mr. Martin, how long can you delay this”? asks Cindy. “I should be able to delay it for about four months, but I can't guarantee that”. “Right, that should be enough time. I'm sorry dad I didn't let you speak, but we all know how wrong he is”. We all get up and hug mom and dad.

“Mavis”, says Rick, operation “find out” authorization Rick O O’Hare alpha 0015”. **“Authorization accepted”.** “Ah, Rick what are you doing”? “Well dad, Ava, and I knew something like this was going to come up sooner or later, so we set up a program in Mavis to search out any information on certain individuals”. “Ah Rick son, I thought Mavis couldn’t work on the binary computer level”?

Rick turns red, “I might have built her an interface to be able to. She still can’t take over another computer, she can only talk to them”. “Son, do we need to talk about ethics”? “No dad, she will only search out public records, not hack another computer”. “But she could hack another computer’? **“I can’t hack another computer, but I may be able to tickle out some freely available information If I ask the right questions of that computer. If I ask enough questions, then something might give me a lead to more questions, and computers to ask these questions of”.** “That does sound like a hack to me”.

“No, dad it’s a grey area, if you hack a computer, it means you force it to give you it’s information. What Mavis will be doing is to stand at the door, and ask questions, she will never open that door”. “All right Rick I will let this one pass, but no more secrets from me ok, son”? “Yes dad, I’m sorry”.

Rocky just shakes his head. “I never want to get on the bad side of you kits, I don’t think I would like it”. “So, may I hold your new additions”? “Scott, honey, I think Mr. Martin needs a hug, could you give him one please”? Scott jumps into Rocky’s lap, and Justin and Elizabeth are jealous, so they jump into his lap too.


	41. Family

Dad's in a fine mood this morning, he grabs mom and kisses her, and holds it for a long time. Mom blushes when he finally releases her. We all get kisses and hugs before he heads off to work. I continue to instruct mom and Vivian. The kits and pup run around the DOJO and generally make a nuisance of themselves. Everyone else is either soaking or swimming.

“Hey spots, how are you doing”? Clawhauser lets out with a squeal, “Nick your back, oh, show me, please”? Nick chuckles as he shows off the new additions. “Elisabeth is faster than Scott, so she chases him. Justin is a little slower but makes up for it by being the highest bounder. They can be a nuisance, but I wouldn’t trade them for anything”.

“So, this little guy is your brother. Wow, never seen an orange wolf before”. “It seems kind of strange, I mean my brother will be growing up with my kits. He's already pack leader with Elisabeth and Justin. Just the other day, he shocked the heck out of his mom, when he looked at her and called her mom. He appears to be a fast learner, just like all the older kits”. “Speaking about that, when is Daniel coming back”? “My mom figures another week, she wants to be ready as well”. Looking at the clock, Ben exclaims. “Look at the time, Nick you better get to the bullpen, or the chief might put you on permanent parking duty”. “Right spots, see you later”, says Nick as he heads for the bullpen.

Nick just smiles and greets everyone, as he walks into the bullpen. He finds his seat, just as the chief comes in the front door. “Oh, so good of you to join us Wilde, have a nice vacation”? “Yes chief, the hula girls were just fantastic”. The bullpen cracks up with laughter. “Can it Wilde”. The Chief hands out the assignments until only Nick and the new wolf are left in the bullpen. “Wilde, parking duty…. just kidding, you and Howler will be teaming up until your partner comes back from her vacation”. With that Bogo leaves the bullpen.

Nick walks over to the new guy. “Hi, I’m Nick Wilde”. “Hello Nick I’m Barry Howler, I’m a temporary transfer from precinct 3”.” So, what brings you to this part of the city”? Nick asks this as they head for the patrol car. “Well if truth be told, I wanted to meet up with Judy Hopps”. “Why’s that”? “Well Nick, she helped me in the academy. I was failing out, and she showed so much determination, that I decided if a bunny could do it, so could I”.

“She helped me with some assignments and some practical techniques. I was third in our class because she helped me, and I never got to thank her. I would like to see her while I'm here”. “I think I can arrange that”. “So, you and Judy went through the academy together”? “Yes, I wouldn’t have minded if she had become my girlfriend, but my grandpa, the pack leader would have probably have killed me and her”. “Ohh, that’s harsh”. “Yes, it is, my grandfather did not handle interspecies relationships very well. He drove a lot of the family away because of it”. Nick throws Barry the car keys. “Senior officer drives”, he says. Barry gets behind the wheel and starts the car. “So how many of the pack left because of his Views”? “Two-thirds left or were driven out, including my uncle. My uncle married an arctic fox, they had a cute little arctic fox tod, he was from her first relationship”.

Nick's head snaps around and he looks at Barry. “So, what happened to this uncle”? “He died when I was nine. He was coming back from some park when they were broadsided by a drunk. My uncle Peter was in a coma the last time I saw him. Three days after the last time I saw him, grandpa said he had died. We claimed his ashes and the ashes of his wife and son. Their picture hangs on the wall of remembrance, with their ashes in a niche in the wall below it. Listen to me, I must be a right bore, he says as he wipes a tear from his eye”. “It’s all right Barry, I love my family too”. They spend the rest of the day talking about nothing in particular.

Nick comes in the door in a troubled state. “Hey slick”, Judy looks at Nick and can tell something is wrong, “Nick what’s wrong”? “Is Peter home yet”? “Yes, he and Vivian are in the hot tub”. Nick reaches for Judy's paws and pulls her into an embrace. “Have I told you how much I love you”? “Nick you're scaring me, what is it”. “It’s nothing bad love, but it might bring closure to Peter”. “Nick, what are you talking about”? “We’ll talk later, I need to talk to Peter first”. “Nick if it concerns Peter it concerns all of us”. “Your right, that’s why I love you”. Peter and Vivian, are both laughing, giggling, and smooching as they come in the front door. Nick hates to spoil their good mood, but he thinks it needs to be said. “Peter, Vivian, can you guys come and sit down in the kitchen we need to talk”. “Right Nick, just let us get dressed first”. “Right, Sorry”.

“So, Nick what’s got you so riled up”? Asks Peter with a grin. “Peter, I met one of your family members today”. Peter deflates and sits down hard. “Nick you know I don’t talk to my family”. “Yes Peter, I do, but I think you need to”. “Why, Nick”? “Because your family thinks you are dead”. “WHAT? Nick my family doesn’t talk to me because I had, and still am having an interspecies relationship”. “According to Barry, you died when he was nine”. “All right Nick if you did talk to Barry, tell me about his birthmark”.

“Peter, he has a birthmark on the backside of his left ear, in the shape of a flying bird”. “That’s Barry all right. So how did you meet him”? “He is my temporary partner till Judy comes back”. “What, little Barry became a cop? I bet his father loves that”, he said sarcastically. “Peter, would it hurt to just talk to him? You don't have to give your name; we can call you Pete”. “Why are you pushing this Nick”? “Peter, I know how hard it is when you let your family down, and I know I didn’t have the courage without Judy”. “Peter, I let my mom down, and it was the hardest thing to say, I’m sorry”. Vivian gets up and goes around the table and hugs Nick. “Nick, I didn’t let them down they threw me out”. “I think Peter it was all your dad's doing. I believe your family still loves you. Barry had a tear in his eye today when he thought of the death of his uncle”.

Peter deflates. “All right Nick where would you like me to meet him”? “Ah, actually I would like to bring him home. He wants to meet Judy, to thank her for getting him through the academy”. “And he won’t know who I am”?” I won’t tell him”. “All right, I’m Pete, can we all stick to that name”? “Yes Pete, we can”.

The next night Nick parks the cruiser in the VIP section, and they both walk into the building. “Nick, how can you afford a place like this”? “I can’t, but my relatives can”. “Relatives”? “You’ll see. Evening JR”, “Evening Nick, who’s the new guy”? “JR this Barry, Barry this is Jerry Rathbone”. “Jerry Rathbone, snowstorm Jerry Rathbone”? “JR chuckles, the one and only”. “It’s good to meet you sir”, he says as he shakes his paw. “Mavis you there”? **“I am always here Nick".** “Mavis I’m bringing a guest up tonight”. **“Very good Nick, you know the routine”.** “Barry you have to state your full name, and place your paws on the scanner, and look into the camera”. “Wow, that’s quite the security system. My Name is Barry Howler”. **"Thank you, Mister Howler you may proceed”.** Nick and Barry go into the elevator.

As Nick and Barry come in the door, they can both smell something good. “Hey love, where are you”? “In the Kitchen”, comes the reply. Nick goes around the corner and scopes Judy up and plants one right on her muzzle. Barry just stares in shock. Nick puts Judy down, and they both stare at Barry. “Nick you didn’t tell me that you married Judy”. “Well yes, he did, about five years ago”, “how you doing Barry lad”? Says Judy as she hugs him. “Judy you know I’m only a year younger than you”? “Yes, I do, that’s why you will always be lad”.

“Oh, get ready for a shock Barry”. With that, he's mobbed by Elisabeth, Justin, and Scott. All three are jumping at him for attention. “Cute kits, are they yours Judy”? “Yes, two of them are”. The fox kit and the rabbit kit are Nicks and mine”. “You adopted”? “No Barry, they were conceived and carried by me, and before you ask yes, Nick is the father”. “Your vacation was mat leave”? “Nick what did you say”? “Wasn’t me, it was chief Bogo”. “Yes, Barry it was mat leave. You should have seen me, as big as a beachball”.

Nick pulls out his phone and shows a picture to Barry. Barry just laughs and Judy blushes. “So, who is this other guy”? “That Barry would be my brother. Say Hi, to Barry Scott”. “Hi Barry”, says Scott in his high squeaky voice. “Well hello their little guy”, says Barry as he leans down to hug him. Justin and Elisabeth beg him for a hug too. Barry hugs them all at least once.

“All right guys, TV off, go wash for Dinner”. “Right Mom”, as the rest of us stampede around the corner. “Ah, Nick are all the other kits yours as well”? “Only the burnt umber ones, the rest are the owners of the building”. “Wow, this is hard to believe, I think I have just walked into a fairy tale”. “Some days I feel like it too”, says Nick.

Vivian and “Pete” come out of their bedroom, and head for the kitchen. “You guys hungry”? Ask Vivian. Three small heads nod yes. “Guys you’ll have to excuse me”. With that Vivian goes to the nursing chair, and uncovering her teats start to feed Elisabeth, Justin, and Scott. “Barry I would like you to meet my father-in-law, Pete”.

Pete and Barry shake hands, “do I know you, sir, you seem kind of familiar”? “No, I don’t think so Barry. I just moved to town”. Barry shrugs and sits down. We all come in and sit in our chairs. “Barry I would like you to meet our Kits, Daniel, Terry, Davis, and Ava. And beside them is Susan, Cindy, Suzie, and Rick, the O’Hare’s”. We all raise our paws when our name is said. “Wasn’t there something in the news a few years ago about the O’Hare’s”? “Yes, there was, but it’s time to eat”.

After supper, we all go back to the living room and continue the movie we were watching. The adults sit around the table with coffee and talk.

“So, Barry, tell me about yourself”. “What’s to tell sir”? “I had a below-average upbringing, the only ones I felt that loved me were my mother and father and my aunt”. “Come now there had to be more than that in your family”? “There was, but granddad drove most of them away. And the ones he didn’t drive away, were just like him”. “So, has anything changed for you”? “Well yes, dad challenged granddad for the right to be pack leader”. “Did he win”? “In a manner of speaking”.

“This happened about two years ago. They had been arguing about the latest removal from the pack when dad had finally had enough. They fought traditionally, Dad had him pinned to the ground, and was ready to rip his throat out when grandma rapped dad on the back and told him he didn't deserve to die that way. Dad thought about it as his anger cooled, and had to agree with his mom. Dad let granddad up and just shook himself all over. Grandma then took the matriarchic chain from around her neck and put it on my mom's neck. Grandpa got up in a huff and taking his jacket stormed out of the compound. That was the night of the big storm. They found him three days later, sitting on a park bench, with his paw frozen to his cane. He died like he lived, with a cold, cold heart”.

“So, has things changed in the compound”? “You bet they have”; Barry gets very animated at this question. “Dad has invited all the family members back. Some came back, but others wanted to wait, to see how things went. We were down to a total of sixteen members in the compound when dad challenged, now we have forty-two members in the compound. There are many interspecies couples in the compound now”.

“Terry my uncle, was the strangest, he brought his new wife to the compound, she's a black panther named Sasha. Dad welcomed them in, and she is the best thing to happen in the nursery. She's a mother to all the pups, and they love her. Dad looks at her and gets a melancholy look in his eyes, and I'm sure he is thinking about his brother”.

“Dad always told me he had only one regret in life, and that was his brother”. “How’s that Barry”? “Well, dad has always told me to speak my mind and to not let another speak for me. When granddad threw Peter out of the pack, dad had argued with him the night before. Granddad said he was right, and no son of his would be in an interspecies relationship. They fought then, and dad had the scruff of his neck torn off by granddad”.

“Dad was rushed by car to the hospital in tundra town, and they managed to reattach most of it. Still to this day, it hurts dad on wet days. Dad wore a high collar, and stood with granddad as he told his brother off, he had tears in his eyes as he did this. He was scared of the old mammal. He had a wife and son to look after, and he couldn't do that if he was dead. But that was his one regret, he couldn't tell his brother the truth, and dad's brother died before he could tell him how sorry he was”.

“So, how did his brother die”? “You sure you want to hear this”? “Humor an old dog Barry”. “Well about two years after he was thrown out, he was in an auto accident, his wife and son died at the scene, and my uncle was in a coma”. “Mom and I visited every third day, we stayed for about an hour each time. The last time we saw him, he looked so frail and I wanted him to be strong, so I left my action figure in his hand hoping it would give him strength. Three days later, we were on our way to visit, but we got a call from granddad, saying he had passed on”. “Mom and my aunt were devastated and cried and howled for a week. Granddad made all the arrangements, but grandma intervened and brought all the urns of his family, home to the compound. Their ashes reside in an alcove below their picture in the hall of remembrance”.

Everyone including Peter had tears in their eyes. “I'm sorry everyone, this was a heave subject”. “Not really, fluff butt. How's your mom Stacie and your Aunt Beth doing now”? “God, I haven’t been called fluff butt since I was two. Wait, how did you know my nickname”? “I was there day you were born, fluff butt. You kind of fell into my paws. Here I believe this is yours”. Peter hands him an old action figure. Most of the paint has worn off over time, but you could still tell it was "super mammal". “Perhaps I should introduce myself, hi fluff butt, I’m your uncle Peter Howler”.

“My uncle is DEAD, what are you playing at”? “Barry, I know you. And I know about the birthmark you don't talk about, you know the one in front, in an awkward position shaped like a heart”. Barry’s eyes get big and wide, “if you are my uncle, tell me something only he and I would know”. “Let’s see, how about the fire in the shed? Caused by a careless candle, and when I pulled you out, you told me you were hiding from the evil eyes of Harvey. Will that work”?

“O.M.G. uncle Peter”. Barry bounds around the table and cuddles into Peter whining the whole time. “Yes, Barry, I heard you that last time, and I wanted to squeeze your paw, but I still couldn't move. It was several hours later when I could close my paw over your "gift". And I never let it go. I have carried it in my pocket every day since”.

“Oh, God, uncle we have to tell the whole family, they will be so happy”. “No, Barry, I want to tell them in my own time”. “But uncle”. “No buts Barry, my own time or not at all”. “Yes uncle, but will you make it soon”? “Barry, I have lived as a lone wolf for so long, it’s going to be hard for me to join a pack again”. “I... I understand, but it will be hard, as the anniversary of your death is approaching”.

“Tell me, does your father still hold court at the end of each month”? “No, he holds a council, all pack members have a say at the council. He may be the head, but the limbs have a say in how the body is run”. “Good and does he take petitions for entrance to the pack”? “Yes, he does”. “Good see you at the end of the month, Barry. Please don't tell anyone”. “It will be hard, but ok”. Barry kisses Peter and lets him go. Barry leaves, and Vivian cuddles into him.

“That was well-done love”. “Vivian, I don’t know if I can face my family”. “You can face them because I will be at your side”. “Are you sure”? “I'm not going anywhere Peter, Get used to that”. Peter just leans down and kisses her. After a bit, it becomes very passionate, and he picks her up and heads for their bedroom.


	42. Howlers

Several weeks go by, as Peter prepares for his pack. We all return to the precinct and Clawhauser squeals at seeing the new additions. They go play on a corner of the mats, while we do our routine. About halfway through Scott come over and starts to do the routine with us. Elisabeth and Justin not to be outdone, come over and join us. They fall a lot, and soon have everyone in stitches at their antics. I pit mom against Fangmyer, and they fight to a draw. Mom used to beat her. Fangmyer just walks away with a smug look on her face. I think it's time for some new lessons for her.

“Are you Ready Love”? “Vivian I’m as nervous as the day I asked you out”. “Oh, that’s bad, do you need a hug”? “Well I could do with more than a hug, but I don’t think we have enough time”. “Peter you are incorrigible”. Peter laughs, “yes, I am. Scott son, you ok in there”? “Yes dad, it’s nice and comfy”. Peter picks up the pup carrier, and they all head for the door.

They drive to the Howler compound and don robes before they get out of the car. All that can be seen of Peter and Vivian are the ends of their muzzles sticking out of their hoods. Barry meets them at the door and leads them to the council chambers. Peter looks around and spots many family members he recognizes, and he has to hold back a tear. They wait as family business is conducted first. Peters just holds Vivian's paw. Eventually, all family business is completed, they then turn to new matters.

Barry steps to the middle of the floor. “Dad, I bring a petitioner to the floor, who wishes to join the Howler pack”. “Petitioner step forward”. Barry steps back, and Peter steps forward. “What can you offer the pack”? “I am a doctor, and the head of pediatrics at Mercy General”. Many mammals get a look on their faces as Peter Speaks. “I bring my wife and son as well”. Perry gets a look on his face of disbelief. “Please remove your hood, so we can look at you”.

Peter grabs the seams of his robe, and in one fluid motion, pulls it off and drops it to the floor. “O.M.G. PETER”. With that Perry is across the room in two bounds and knocks Peter to the floor. He Kisses up one side of Peter’s muzzle and down the other, whining the whole time. He then starts to scent mark every part of Peter he can reach.

“Ahh, Perry this not very dignified for a pack leader”. “Don’t care, Peter, I'm so sorry”. “Hush brother, all is forgiven”. Peter reaches up and feels the scars on Perry’s Neck. “I was told you paid dearly already for what happened”. “Peter, we thought you were dead, dad said you were”. Perry helps Peter up. “I damn near was”. Peter undoes his shirt and shows the three parallel scars on his chest. “Dad gave me these, he wanted to kill me”.

“Peter…” “Perry we will talk later, but first I would like to introduce my wife”. With this Vivian removes her robe. “Perry, I would like to introduce my wife Vivian, and the mother of our son, Scott”. Peter reaches down and undoes the latch on the carrier. “Scott son, you can come out now”. “Can’t dad, scared”. Peter squats down and opens his arms. “Come, Scott, I will hold you”. Scott shoots out of the carrier, and into his father’s arms. Peter stands up and turns around to his brother.

Scott clings tight to his father and looking with one eye, stares at the mammal in front of him. “Son, I would like you to meet my brother, your uncle Perry, can you say hello”? In his high squeaky he says, “hello uncle”. Perry is floored and takes a few to collect himself. Vivian steps forward and cuddles into Peter's side. “God Peter he’s cute, how old is he”? Scott pipes up, “I’m five and a half.” “He seems kind of small for his age”. “Ah, Perry he meant months. He was born January 17th this year”. Again, Perry is at a loss for words. Scott lifts his head off of his dad’s chest and looks around. He can feel no animosity towards him. “Can you put me down, dad”? “All right son, but no wandering off”. Scott just stands up and holds onto Vivian’s paw.

Just then, the oldest female dog comes over. “Hi mom”, says Peter as he hugs her. They both start to cry, “I knew you weren’t dead Peter, and I can understand why you stayed away”. “I didn’t know that dad had declared me dead, though he did try to kill me”. “I know son, in one of his fits of rage he told me, he was trying to hurt me, but I just knew”. They cry for a bit more when he feels a hug come around him from behind.

“Hi sis”, he lets go of his mom and turns around to hug his sister. “How did you know it was me”? “I may have been gone for a long time, but your unique scent is still in my memory. Mom, Beth I would like you to meet my wife Vivian, and our son, Scott”. They both hug Vivian, and looking down, seeing Scott, they are shocked at his color. “Peter he’s adorable”, says his mom picking him up. She kisses him, and scent marks him. “Scott, son, my mom is holding you. And this lady over here is your aunt Beth”. Scott flips his tail up and shyly hides behind it. “Wow, that is one fluffy tail, and long too”. “Well, he does have his mother’s genes as well”.

Rita, Peters mom, puts Scott down, Scott looks around and sees the brightest heart fire, and heads that way. He grabs her leg when he comes near. Sasha reaches down and picks him up. “So, who are you little one? I haven’t seen you around before”. “I’m Scott, Peters son”. Terry hugs his wife, “look at him, he’s a hybrid”. Sasha holds him up and has a good look at him. She starts to cry, as she hugs him close. Scott scent marks her as she cries. Terry takes Scott, and with the other paw hugs his wife. Scott then scent marks Terry as Well. Terry just smiles and puts Scott on the floor. Scott walks back to his mother and holds her paw.

“So, Peter, why did you come back now”? “Well Beth a wise son-in-law told me, that the hardest thing he ever had to do was to seek forgiveness, and I came to realize that I needed to forgive as well. And I couldn't do that without coming back. My life didn't seem complete without my family, and I had been a lone wolf for so long, that when love presented its self to me, I jumped at the chance. My wife loves me, and I love her, and our expression of love culminated in our son here. But part of my life was still missing, I still love you all, even after all dad did to me”. The rest of the family moves in, and a group hug insures. Someone howls with joy, and the whole pack joins in.

Peter and Vivian stay for the evening meal, there is light banter, but Peter can see the question coming. “Peter so what happened”? “Well the accident you know, and my time in the coma, but what you don't know was I was aware of my surroundings for about a week before I was able to move again. Barry laid an action figure in my paw and left. I spent the rest of that day just trying to close my paw on it. I had almost given up hope, but about midnight I closed my paw on it. I fell asleep clutching that figure”.

“When I woke up the next morning, I could open my eyes and look around. I shocked the day nurse by asking for water. I regained the use of my body about noon the next day, but I was as weak as a newborn pup. Dad came in the next morning, he was in one of his moods. He welcomed me back into the pack, and I told him to take a flying **** at a rolling donut. I would never be part of a pack that he was the leader of. I called him a hypocrite and an S.O.B. He had been raising his voice, and the nurse called security. Dad raised his right paw and slashed me across the chest. I was too weak to defend myself. He raised his paw again to slash me across the throat when the two security guards grabbed him and stopped him. They asked me if I wanted to press charges, I told them no, no father of mine would ever do that to one of his sons. As he got to the door he turned around and said to me”, “your dead to me boy, you hear, dead”.

“It was a week before I could reactivate my phone number, but no one from the family called. I felt lost and forgotten. I spent an intensive four months in rehab, but not one call came from my family. I became bitter and swore that if my family didn't want me, I didn't want them. I didn't know that dad told you all, that I was dead. Why would you call a dead mammal's line”?

“So, from that point, I put all my energy into my job. I became, in the truest sense of the word a lone wolf. Then about two years ago this burnt umber flower appeared in my life, and I realized I wanted to live again, I wanted to love again, and she said yes”. Vivian blushes at this, several of the females just went Ahh. Peter leans over to her and drags her into a passionate kiss, it’s hard to drag the willing.

“So, tell us about your son”. Peter looks over at his son sleeping in his mother’s lap. “What's to tell? He was conceived and carried conventionally and born in January. He is a bit smarter than a normal pup his age, but he appears to be in good health”. “Peter, he’s well advanced for his age, most of my pups didn’t start talking till about 18 months”. “I should mention he is housebroken as well. His abilities are normal for his nieces and nephews, so I don't think it's abnormal”.

“He has nieces and nephews”? Vivian pipes in. “Yes, my son has 7 biological kits, and four adopted kits. Two of them were born the same night as Scott”. “Wow, your house must be chaotic”. “Not really, the nine older ones are very independent, and help to look after the younger ones”. “How old are the older ones”? “They just had their fourth birthday”. “Their four, and independent”? “Well yes, we can't talk about it, as the Z.CIA has a classification stamp on it”. “Wow, this gets stranger and stranger”. Vivian pulls out her phone and passes it around, showing pictures to everyone. “They seem a little different”. “They are, they are fox and bunny hybrids”. “Wait are you telling us that a fox and a bunny had kits”? “Yes, I am. The two youngest were conceived and carried by their mother, and born just before Scott”. Sasha starts to cry and leaves the table; Terry follows his wife out.

“So, your son married a bunny”? “Yes, my son Nickolas Wilde married his partner Judy Hopps”. “Wait, are you telling us that the first fox cop married the first bunny cop”? “Well yes, they did”. “Dad, Judy, and I went through the academy together, she helped me over some rough patches. Without her, I don't think I would be a cop today”. “So, she was the one you were sweet on”. Barry blushes, and several others just snicker. “Yes dad, but I knew it could never go anywhere unless I wanted to leave the pack, and I didn't want to leave, so I chose to work at precinct 3”. Perry just hugs his son. Stacie hugs her son as well.

“So, Peter will you be moving into the compound”? “Sorry Perry, I live downtown, and I won't be leaving the place I live now”. Perry deflates a bit. “But you are always welcome to visit”. “And where would you be living”? “I live at 100 Harris St”. “Wow, that’s very exclusive, how can you afford that”? “I can't, but I know the owners of the building, and they let me live there rent-free. Barry and Vivian Start to laugh, and they have a hard time stopping. Peter just smiles at his joke. Perry gets a puzzled look on his face. “When you come to visit brother, I will explain it then”.

It was an interesting night, Peter positively glowed when they came in the door, Scott ran across the room and pounced on Elisabeth, he let out a growl, which came out more like a stutter. Elisabeth just giggled and laughed. Justin then pounced on him, and both Justin and Elisabeth wrestled him to the ground and start to tickle him. “All right guys, bedtime”. We all let out with a sigh, “ahh, mom”, “don’t ah mom me, move or you will get the dad treatment”. We all scramble to get to our rooms; we remember dad’s sore butt cheek. “Dad looks up, does that go for me too”? “Quiet Wilde or you're next”. “YES, Ma’am”. Dad and mom just smile at each other.


	43. Court

Life carries on. We have a pool party, and invite some of Peter's family over. Things go well, and Perry finally gets the joke when he meets the O'Hare's. I did my shark impression, in the pool, mom was my victim. I had taught myself how to swim like an otter, and I used this to swim underwater towards my mom. I stuck my tail up, so it was knifing through the water. My mates started to do the theme from "jaws" as I slowly swam up on my unsuspecting victim.

I nipped her butt check and swam away. Well, I did try to swim away, mom caught me as I was turning. She pulled me out of the water and threw me in the deep end. Wow, mom has a good arm. Every time I tried to come back, she would grab me and throw me in the deep end again. I finally got out of the pool and walked to the other end where everyone was. Mom gave me a stern look but I could see that she was laughing and having fun. I stuck out my tongue at her, and she just laughed. I decided to get a sandwich and drink.

And so, life goes on. By the end of November, everyone had gone up another belt level. Susan earned a double black belt; I was so proud of her. But then what had been put off, could not be put off anymore. Susan her sisters, and brother, had to appear in court to defend our parents. Sitting in the gallery of the courtroom, I start to draw. Susan sitting next to me, and was on her pad waiting to take everything down that came to her as it transpired. All of us were nervous, but mom and dad had stoic looks on their faces, but we all could see how troubled they were. This was our first look at Larry O'Hare, he looked a lot like Justin, but he had a harder personality. He had a top-notch, high powered lawyer, one Mr. Setero. Mom, Dad, Cindy, and Mr. Martin all sat at the defendant’s, table.

“All rise for the Honorable Judge Harrison”, the judge comes in and sits down. “You may be seated”; we all sit down. “I have read the affidavits of both parties, and frankly I can’t see a reason to change the guardianship of the O’Hare Children”.

Mr. Setero stands up, “your honor we feel that the Wilde’s will hurt the children in the long run, they have ties to organized crime, they are never home, they never go out to socialize, they teach them nothing for their education, and Nick Wilde is a con mammal from the streets, and we believe that he is taking advantage of the children. Judy Wilde has a unique set of beliefs, that are out of touch with reality. Also, they are too small to protect the children properly”. Mr. Setero sits down.

“Mr. Martin, would you like to respond”? “Ah your honor, I’m only here as an observer, their lawyer will be handling their case”. Cindy stands up. “Your honor I will be defending my parents”. “And you are”? “Sorry your honor, I am Cindy P. O’Hare attorney at law”. A look of surprise crosses the judge's face. “What are you playing at? Your only four”. “None the less your honor, I will be defending my parents. I have received my law degree from Harvard Law, and had to bring an age discrimination lawsuit against the bar”.

“In a seven to two decision, the board ruled in my favor. I can’t practice criminal law, but family law was open to me”. “How is this possible”? “Your honor, I have been studying law since I was two, I have read every law book written, and can quote some very obscure laws that are still valid. I quoted all 276 cases of age discrimination to the bar, they put me through the wringer, and I came out on top. I took the Harvard law course by extension and passed all four years in one year. When I showed up for the final exam, I had to sit in front of a panel of teachers and argue my case. They were impressed, and granted me my degree”.

“All right young lady, you have very impressive credentials, would you begin please”? “Thank you, your honor. The first point I would like to bring up is education. Nick and Judy do not need to educate us. I have here all the GED transcripts for myself and my siblings. Cindy passes the transcripts to the bailiff to hand to the judge. As you can see your honor, we had to pass the GED twice, once they thought we were cheating, and the second time we were taken to separate rooms, and with an observer present, wrote it a second time. We all passed both times with honors. My brother has been accepted to MIT and will be starting in the fall. The rest of us will be going to a school for the gifted, in the fall. They would not accept us till the age of five. So, sir, our education has not been neglected”.

“The second point I would like to bring up is our typical day. We all get up at five, and do an early morning exercise routine, we then have sparing practice, shower, swim, and then have breakfast. Nick, Judy, and Peter then head for work. Our grandmother then goes for the rest of the day with us. We then go to the DOJO or the Precinct, depending on what day of the week it is. We do another exercise routine, and our DOJO master then teaches the officers that show up for practice. After practicing at the precinct, we either go to the park or the library. After work they come home, we have supper as a family, watch some TV, and go to bed. I'm sure our parents spend more time with us than Mr. O'Hare spends with his own family”.

“I object your honor, conjecture, she doesn’t know how much time Mr. O’Hare spends with his family”. “I hear your objection Mr. Setero, but as this is not a criminal case, but a family law case, you can’t object to her belief”. Mr. Setero turns red and sits down.

“The third point I would like to bring up is the fact of my father being a con mammal. He freely admits to being a con Mammal, and an errand boy for Mr. Big”. Larry and his lawyer get smug grins of satisfaction on their faces. “When he was an errand boy for Mr. Big, he ran packages all over town. We all know Mr. Big does not deal in drugs, he has run all drug dealers out of the part of tundra town he controls”.

“All the stuff he did for Mr. Big, was before he reached the age of majority. He left Mr. Big’s employ on his 18th birthday, under circumstances that were a bit dubious. Mr. Big told him not to return, under fear of death. He didn't return of his own free will. My mom on her second day in Zootopia saved the life of Mr. Big's daughter. With Dad at her side, they went to see Mr. Big. Mr. Big forgave dad and welcomed them into his family. Mom is the godmother to little Judy, Fru Fru’s daughter”.

“Mom and Dad are friends to the Big's, not employees. IA has investigated mom and dad twice, they don't like the fact that they are friends to the Big's, but can find nothing wrong with their relationship. They have never acted inappropriately in their jobs as police officers”.

“Forth point is my mom is not out of touch with reality. She subscribes to a higher level of morality than some people I know. And her high morals make her one tough cop. Mom and dad are one of the best police teams working out of precinct 1”.

“Fifth point, No one is taking advantage of us. We gave that right to mom and dad to be guardians over us. We gladly share our space with our parents, even if they are not our biological parents. I started to draw furiously; I had gotten my first picture of the day. Could they be taken away from us, Like my parents in their auto accident? Yes, they could. I got my second and third pictures from the day. But until that day, I stand by Nick and Judy as my parents. Even if they were in a coma, I would still stand by them”. I now had a fifth picture from the day.

“Sixth point, my parents and grandmother did protect us all from an armed invasion at the house. They put themselves in danger to do this. Some of the perps did survive but not many. I got a sixth picture”.

“Seventh and final point, Larry O'Hare has not come to see us once since we were freed from the place we were being held. Your honor, I have here a sworn statement from the head of security for the O'Hare apartments. In this statement, he states that he received no request from Larry O'Hare to see us. He has not phoned, presented himself in the lobby, or tried to contact us in any way. Frankly sir he does not exist to us. We may be family, but if I treated my family this badly, I think they would disown me”.

“Thank you, young lady. We now will take a lunch break until one, I will render my verdict at that time”. “All rise”, judge Harrison then leaves the courtroom. Susan and I rush out of the building, across the courtyard to precinct 1, we head in to talk to chief Bogo. The precinct is a beehive of activity as we leave. We join our family for some lunch before we head back into court.We return to court only to be informed that the judge will be unavoidably detained, and the verdict would be delivered at 9:00 am tomorrow. We all trudge home, with the sword of Damocles hanging over our heads.

When we return to court the next morning, chief Bogo is there along with several officers he gives me a nod. I walk up to Larry O'Hare and ask if I can speak to him without his lawyer present. He looks at me with a smile, but I can see the hate and loathing he has for me being a hybrid. He agrees to talk to me in a small courtroom down the hall. As we enter, he looks around for any cameras that might be present. He sees none but activates his counter-surveillance measures anyway.

“What do you want? you damn hybrid scum”. “Why Larry that's not what you called me at the institute. I believe you just called me subject "J”. Larry is taken aback, he thought he had covered all his tracks. “What do you mean”? “I have never seen you before yesterday”. “Oh, cut the act Larry, I can tell when you are lying”. “So, you know, what do you want scum”? “Why Larry I’m here to offer you a get out of jail free card”. “Get out of jail? I’m not going to jail”. “Yes, you are Larry, remember this mammal”?

I flip the portfolio I was carrying and show him the first picture. “I know he was the one to insert the device into Justin's car. He did both cars, the ZPD has picked him up, and offered him immunity from prosecution in exchange for his testimony. The ZPD has gone through the Beamer and removed the other device”. I then flip to the next page; “this is the mammal who created the device in question. He built two of them and gave them both to Stan”.

“You remember Stan Don’t you? Stan had some pretty interesting things to say about you”. “I don’t Know any Stan”. “Right Larry and I blow bubbles out my butt. Stan and his brother Steven are in jail for the mammal slaughter of Heather T., and they are willing to roll on you for some time off of their sentence”.

“Now here’s where it gets dicey, I flip to the next page. Remember her? She was the one to administer the drug that kept Justin and Jenifer in a coma and depressed their brain activity. How about this mammal? He doctored the reports to cover up the fact they were being drugged. It’s strange, we found a bank account in her and his name with a half a million dollars in both. Is that the price of two lives? Did you take pleasure in ending his life, Larry”?

“I don’t know what you are driving at, but everything you are saying is all news to me”. “Oh, come on, Larry, you wanted to get rid of your brother for a long time. He found your accounts for the drugs and guns you were selling on the streets of Zootopia”. I flip to the next page and show him the account numbers. “We also found the accounts in the “ka Ram Islands”. Funny one of the accounts was linked to the institute as it’s operating fund”.

“He told you to come clean, or he was going to report you to the police. You got rid of him in a way that cast no suspicion on you”. “Even if that was true, I loved my brother”. “Really Larry? We have video footage of the two of you fighting, and he did say some pretty derogatory things to you”. “Where did you get that footage? it was erased”. “Nothing is ever truly forgotten on the internet”.

“Oh, we did find the helicopter you used to escape from the institute. It was also the one used in the assault on our home. I flip another page; this mammal was the leader of that assault”. “It’s not your home, you damn hybrid”. “Really Larry? I live there. The pilot won’t talk at the moment, but when he sees you in jail, I’m sure he will give you up”.

“I believe that you staged the bombing at the fertility clinic, just to get your brother's kits. What were you going to do Larry? Hold them for ransom? Or were you going to quietly get rid of them”? “You have it all figured out don’t you, you damn hybrid, you tell me”. “I believe Larry that you picked up the wrong list for the cryonic cylinder. So, you had to birth all of the embryo’s just to get the ones you wanted. You were going to hold them over your brother’s head to make him toe the line. My brothers, sister, and I were just some experimental fodder”. “You should never have been born, scum like you should never exist”. “So why did you keep us around Larry”? He just glares at me.

“So, just before their accident, you told him you had their kits and threatened to kill them if he didn't obey you. He told you where to go and how to get there. You then activated the device in their car. When they hit 45 MPH, the brakes were disengaged, and the ECM was set to race the engine because it was a standard, they couldn't pull it out of gear once the engine was over-revving, and with no brakes, it was only a matter of time before they crashed”.

“When they didn’t die in the accident, you had a nurse inject them with fentanyl, to decrease their brain function. And she kept injecting them, till you pulled the plug. But they had enough brains left to thwart you again. They died after midnight so the clause was defunct”. “You can’t prove any of this”. “I beg to differ we can prove all of this. All the mammals involved have given you up Larry. But most of this is circumstantial, and it can go the way of the Dodo bird”. “How’s that”? “Well, I have a legal document here that states you are dropping the guardianship application. In exchange for dropping your application, the O'Hare children will give up their birthright to half the company. They will keep the house and their parent's bank accounts but you get the company”. “You brought all of this up, just to get me to sign this document”? “Pretty much, yes”. “If I sign, all of this disappears”? “I promise you it will go the way of the Dodo bird”. Larry signs all the documents and walks out of the courtroom.

We both walk into the family courtroom. Larry hands the paperwork to his lawyer and sits down. His lawyer reads it, signs it, and passes it to Mr. Martin. Mr. Martin signs it, passes it to Cindy, she signs it as well. So does Susan Rick and Susie. Before the judge could enter, Chief Bogo bursts into the courtroom.

He walks up to the front, turns, and looks at Larry. “Larry O’Hare you are under arrest for the murder of Justin and Jenifer O’Hare. You are also under arrest for selling and distributing guns and drugs, and running an illegal testing lab, forcible confinement, and a few more charges we are looking into”. Larry looks at me with murder in his eyes. “YOU said this would all go away”. “No Larry, I said it would go the way of the Dodo bird. Funny thing, if you had been following the news, you would know that a flock of Dodo birds had been found on a small island in the South Pacific. It was quite the “discovery”. All of us kits get together, “it’s called a hustle sweetheart”.

“All rise for the Honorable Judge Harrison, you may be seated”. “Mis O’Hare where is Larry O’Hare”? “Sorry your honor, but he was just arrested”. “And his Lawyer”? “He went to the precinct to defend him. Your honor before he left, he signed this document”. Cindy passes it to the bailiff. “As you can see your honor, he has dropped his application for guardianship of us”. “Right I can see that, what a waste of my time”. “Yes, your honor, it was”. “Well young lady you have handled yourself very professionally, you are welcome in my courtroom anytime”. “Thank you, your honor”. “All rise”, the judge leaves the courtroom.

“Well, Cindy, how does it feel to win your first court case”? “Technically I didn’t win, but It feels good Mr. Martin, but I couldn’t have done it without my family”. Unknown to everyone there was a reporter in the courtroom, and boy did he have a juicy story.


	44. News

The next morning, was average, tell we got down to the street. The reporter from yesterday was waiting on the street for us. He had been thrown out of the lobby when he couldn't answer some simple questions. As he approaches, grandma gets a look of concern on her face. “That’s close enough, who are you and what do you want”? “Ma’am I just wish to speak to the O’Hare children”. “You still didn’t answer my question”. “I’m a reporter working for the star”. “Sorry, we are not granting interviews at this time”. He takes a few steps closer. “I said back off, we are not granting interviews”. He moves a little closer. “ Sir, I won’t ask you again, back off”. “Look all I want to do is talk to them.”

Susan reaches up, “It’s ok Vivian, he’s harmless”. “Are you sure Susan”? “Yes, Vivian we are all sure”. Vivian visible relaxes. “Sir, you don’t know how close you were to having your ass handed to you on a platter”, says Susan. “What your maid was going to do it”? “She’s not our maid, and no, she wouldn’t have done it, I would have”. “Look my grandma was right we are not granting interviews at this time”. “She’s your grandma”? “Yes, she is”. “Wow, there’s more of a story here than I thought”.” Look Mr.…” “Oh, sorry, my bad”.

“I’m Chris Beaverton”. “Look, Mr. Beaverton, we don’t want any publicity at this time, maybe later, but not now”. “I understand, but I have been chasing Larry O’Hare for a few years now, and I had some evidence, but couldn’t put him in the crimes I knew that he had committed. Can you tell me how you did it”?

“No sir, that is classified information”. “Classified information”? “Yes Sir, if you want an interview, go talk to Jack Savage over at the Z.CIA”. “Right, that stuck up bunny won’t give me the time of day”. “Well I’m sorry but our cab is here, and we are leaving”. “Can I come with you”? “Sorry, no can do". We all pile into the cab and leave him standing on the curb.

We get to the DOJO and find the place a beehive of activity. "What's going on Mr. Delaront”? “Ah Daniel, we had the roof collapse in one corner, and we are shoring it up”. “Why not fix it”? “Well we would, but we don’t have the money to do it, hence the temporary repairs”. “How much do you need to repair it”? “About 60,000 dollars. We haven’t been taking in the money we need, due to low enrolment. We use to have a couple of rabbits that supported us, but they died a few years ago”. “Who were these sponsors, and how much is enrolment”? “The sponsors we lost were Justin and Jennifer O’Hare, and the enrolment is 400 a month”. “Terry, can we help with the roof”? “Yes Daniel, we can”.

Susan and Terry go to the other side of the room, Terry talks for a few minutes then passes the phone to Susan. They come back and we start our routine. About an hour later, Maurice comes in and hands two envelopes to Susan and Terry. We all stop and walk over to Mr. Delaront. "Sir", says Terry, "there should be enough for the roof repairs, and some extra".

Mr. Delaront opens the envelope and clutches his chest when he sees the amount. "Guys this is very generous, but I can't accept this”. “Yes, you can I have set up an account in the name of the DOJO and put five thousand dollars in it. I will be playing the stock market with this money. Every quarter you will be getting a cheque from this account”. “Wow, what can I say, but thanks”. He hugs Terry. “sir I have a cheque here for enrolment for the four of us”. Susan hands him her envelope. He opens it and notices that the cheque is from the O’Hare Estate. He looks at Susan, with a quizzical look on his face. “Perhaps I should introduce us. I’m Susan, this is Suzie, Rick is over there, and Cindy is beside him”. “Yes, I do know all your names”. “Yes Sir, but what you don’t know is our last name, our last name is O’Hare”. “Your Justin and Jenifer’s kits”? “Yes Sir, we are”. “Wow, this is some kind of strange”.

“What’s strange? Sir”. “Well they always believed that their kits were kidnapped, and they were learning defensive moves, to protect them when they got them back. The last time I saw them, Justin had just fought with his brother, whom he believed was responsible for the abduction”. “He was Mr. Delaront, responsible for our abduction I mean. He’s now facing a slew of charges relating to that, and more”. “Wow, and thank you all for your generous gift, and the enrolment fee.”

We finish our time at the DOJO and head out the door. That same reporter is waiting for us. He steps forward and puts a paw on Susan's shoulder. Susan whips around out from under his paw, grabs his wrist, and using his off-balanced state, flips him over on his back while still putting pressure on his wrist he screams in pain. After a second or two, she realized it was him, and releases her grip and steps back. He sits up clutching his wrist. “I think you broke it”. “No, it's not broken, your just lucky I didn't break your arm”. “Did you think we would change our mind about the interview”? He slowly flexes his finger before he replies. “Yes, I could write about what I know, and it’s not the whole story. It’s based on conjecture and gut feelings, but I would prefer to have the true story”. “Look do you have a business card”? Chris reaches into his pocket and produces a business card.

“Right, we will give this to our guardians and talk to them about an interview, but I can’t guarantee they will grant one”. “Well, that's more than I had a moment ago.” The cab pulls up at this time. “If I were you, I would get some ice for that swelling, hopefully in the future, you have learned not to put your paws on women you do not know.” With that, she shuts the door, and the cab drives away. Chris thinks to himself, she’s only four?

We all go for a soak, Elisabeth and Justin go for a swim, Scott sits at the edge of the pool and practices his howl, still comes out like a broken stutter, we all just laugh at him, he glares at us and cannonballs into the pool.

After supper we broach the subject of an interview with mom and dad. "dad, mom, we've had a request for an interview with the Star, I'm thinking we should do it”. “You know that most of your story is classified, right”? “Yes, but we can tell some of it, and it’s better than the rumors going around”. “What rumors”? “I'm sure that Larry wasn't the only one that believed what he said in court. I'm sure that he started the rumors just to make himself look good”. “You could be right, but this could be unnecessary exposure”. “I don't think so, for us anyway. For you and your kits, it will be. Not many people know that some hybrids exist, and there could be a public backlash.” Nick shrugs as he looks over at Judy, “we knew that this day would come, but we're hoping that it would come much later”.

“So, when and where would you like to do this interview”? “We were thinking we do it here, kind of turn it into a mammal-interest story. And we could do it on Saturday afternoon, say one o’clock”? “That could work, as long as we are not dragged into work, we want to be there to protect our interests.”

Saturday rolls around and Chris is nervous, what will he find? Who are the Guardians of the O’Hare’s? well time to find out. Chris steps into the lobby and goes to the security desk. “I’m here for an interview with the O’Hare’s”. JR just smiles, “you want that kiosk over there”. He points to the kiosk by the elevator. He goes over but can see no way to activate it. “HELLO”? **“state your name and business with the O’Hare’s”.** Chis is a little startled, “my name is Chris Beaverton and I’m here to interview the O’Hare’s”. **“Right, place your paws on the scanner and look into the camera”.** Chris thinks to himself, wow, quite the security system. **“You may proceed”.** The elevator opens, and he steps in.

He gets off and looks around, it appears to be a reception area. One side of a set of double doors opens, and Susan motions him to come in. Chris steps forward and enters. He looks to the left and sees a very big living room, he then turns to the right. It’s a very modern kitchen, with a lot of adults and kits sitting around the table. Chris gulps, it’s a very ecliptic group of mammals. “Come in Mr. Beaverton, want a coffee”? “Yes, a coffee would be fine”. Vivian gets up and goes to the counter and gets him a coffee.

“Now we need to set some ground rules, if we say that something is classified, you will stop all questions pertaining to that. If we say we don’t want to talk about it, please don’t push. We will be as open and as upfront with you as we can, is that fair”? “Yes, that would be fine”. “Right I guess introductions are in order, I’m Nick Wilde, this is my wife Judy Wilde, my mom is Vivian Howler, next to her is Peter Howler. The kits will introduce themselves as you ask questions of them”. “So, who're the guardians of the O'Hare’s”? “That would be Judy and me”. “What do you do for a living Mr. Wilde”? “Judy and I are both cops”. “Wait, your Nick Wilde, first fox cop”? Nick chuckles, “yes that would be me”. “And Judy…. Hopps first Bunny cop”? “Yes, that would be me, but it’s Wilde now”. “How long have you guys been married”? “Going on 5 years now”. “Wow, am I out of the loop”. Everyone just laughs.

“So, how did you become the guardians of the O’Hare’s”? “Our kits and the O'Hare kits are littermates, they were born to the same surrogate mother”. “When did this happen”? “May 25 four years ago”. “Your kits”? “Judy and I have 7 kits. Two were conceived and birthed January of this year, and William the oldest was born two months before the O'Hare's and our other four kits”. “So, who’s the father of your kits”? “That would be me”, Nick says pointing to himself. “But that’s impossible”, “Foxes and Bunny's together have never had kits before, they're too different of species”. “Daniel can you go show Mr. Beaverton”.

I walk over and point to my ears and hind paws, and twitch my nose at him. “So, your son is deformed, proves nothing”. “Well, Mr. Beaverton we have proof that all our kits have both bunny and fox genes, DNA tests have been performed on them all. Daniel is a sixty percent match to me and a thirty-five percent match to Judy”. “What about the other five percent”? “They haven’t been able to identify it. But all the kits have the same five percent that can’t be identified”. “So, were they all part of an experiment”? “Sorry Chris, you’ve hit your first classification stamp”.

“Ok, so you said in court that you have an education already”? “Yes, replies Susan, we all have a grade 12 education. Daniel and I are studying first-year university police sciences. Cindy is a lawyer already, Rick is an electronic circuit designer, and Ava is a computer programmer, Davis wants to be a doctor, and Cindy is helping him to achieve this. Terry is a day trader, with a proven track record”.” What about you, little one”? “I’m Suzie and I’m a singer”.” I’m getting the point that you are all extremely smart”. “We are Chris”. “You have achieved this by the age of four, how is this possible”? “We all have very good memories, and have been force-fed information since we were two weeks old”. He looks at Nick, “did you do this to them”? “No, we didn’t, and before you ask, you’ve hit your second classification stamp”. Chris gets a little flustered, all the good stuff seems to be classified.

“So, I saw you coming out of that DOJO, what are you learning there”? “We all are learning to be fighters". Susan says, "I have a double black belt, and Daniel is a master. The rest of us have brown or black belts, mom and dad have purple belts”. “So, are you a family of fighters”? “In a manner of speaking. We all can fight”. “I heard once that you beat up a couple of mammals in front of a park, is this true”? “Well yes, these two mammals tried to abduct myself and Rick, I took out one perp and Judy took out the other”. “When was this”? “About one year ago”. He looks at Susan, “you took out a full-grown mammal when you were three”? “Yes, I did”. “I’m sorry for yesterday if I had known…” “ It’s ok Mr. Beaverton you have learned a valuable lesson. I’m not the only female fighter in the world”.

“So, how did you guys break the case against Larry O’Hare”? “Most of that is under a publication ban, we can’t tell you much, but to say it will come out in court”. “Did you guys have something to do with it”? “Again, publication ban”. “Come on, give me something”. “Well, we did play a small part in it”. “Ok, is he guilty”?” You will have to attend court to find that out. The courts will decide that”.

“Right, so you signed over your inheritance to him in court, why would you do this”? Again, Susan speaks, “we did this because we knew the stock would fall when Larry was arrested. Also, we wanted full control over the house and our bank accounts. Larry can no longer claim that the money was taken from the company”. “Terry, how much has our bank accounts risen”? “I have managed to increase the accounts by 20% every quarter”, “and how much has Larry’s stock fallen”? “On the news of his arrest, the stock fell 42%. and it continues to fall as we speak, his company will be dead before the year is out”. “Wow, you guys thought of everything”. “We try to Mr. Beaverton”.

At this point, Scott, Elisabeth, and Justin run into the room. Having woken up from their nap. “And here they are the terrible trio”, I say. “When I get older nephew, I'm gonna pound you into the ground”. Everyone laughs. “Dream on, little mammal, dream on”. Justin voices their protests as well. (Elisabeth doesn’t speak yet).

Chris sits there in shock. “Can you Daniel, tell me why he called you nephew”? “Because he’s my fathers’ brother”. Vivian speaks up, “Scott is mine and Peters son, he was born in January along with Elisabeth and Justin, who were born to Judy and Nick”. “And they’re speaking already”? “Yes, they are, their housebroken too”. “Mooooom”, Vivian just laughs. “Oh, come here you”. Scott jumps into his mother’s lap and proceeds to sent mark her clothes. Vivian just rubs her paw down his back and Scott starts to purr. Justin and Elisabeth jump into Nick and Judy's laps and start to chirr. Chris doesn't know what to think, but he can tell that they love each other.

“So, do you have any more question Chris”? “No, I think I have enough for the story. Can I come back in the future”? “Sure, just present yourself at the kiosk, if we are not busy and we’re here, we would be happy to let you up for a talk”. “Thank for the coffee”, “any time”.


	45. Big Sister

The story came out in the paper a few days later, it's very flattering to us. Chris turned it into a mammal-interest story, and the feared public backlash did not materialize. No one appeared to be too concerned about a few hybrids.

We stay home for Christmas this year, mom and dad had to work. We had all kinds of fun seeing the sights of the city. We even got to ride on the tramway, though the adults were concerned when we started to hang over the sides of the gondola. We skated in tundra town; we swam in Sahara square pool and picked (ate) flowers in the meadowlands. We all managed to see the ball drop in Central square, really didn't see what the big fuss was about.

We all got gifts for Christmas, Suzie got a karaoke machine and we all tried it out. Ava and Terry got computer stations, and we set them up in Justin’s old office. Rick got a new soldering station and lots of surplus computer components. Susan and I got gift certificates for the firing range, I wondered what the arms master would think when he found out our age. Cindy got a complete set of modern law books and was happily reading them. Davis got a stethoscope and his admission acceptance letter for med school. Cindy had to bring an age discrimination lawsuit to the school, but after Davis passed the entrance exam with 100%, they accepted him, he starts in the fall. Cindy dropped the lawsuit. Just before our birthday this year, Susan got her masters Karateka, I was so proud of my love. But things took a turn for the stranger shortly thereafter.

Oh no, it’s that dream again. She’s walking along a beach with her paw in another’s paw. But tonight, it was different, she turned to look at him. Wow, he’s handsome. Her paw was in the paw of a coyote, he was older but so distinguished. They were talking as they walked, but she couldn’t remember what was said. She could see a glint in his eye, she smiled at him and starts to run. He caught her at the high watermark, and they kissed for a while, then things start to heat up. DeDe woke to the sound of her alarm clock. Damn, why couldn’t I finish that dream?

DeDe gets up, looks at the dingy hole-in-the-wall that she could afford. She thinks back on her life to date and thinks of what a roller coaster ride it has been. She thinks about what was lost, and wonders if she can ever reclaim it. She pours her first coffee and thinks about her new job. Why had she let him talk her into joining the bright side? Because you were tired of hacking, you dunderhead she thinks to herself. She looks at the time, damn I’m going to be late if I don’t get a move on. She jumps into her uniform and heads out the door.

DeDe enters the precinct and is greeted by a big cheetah. “Good morning, are you DeDe”? “Yes, I am”. “Good the chief wants to meet you before roll call. Second-floor third door on the left”. “Thanks…. Clawhauser”. “Don’t mention it, it’s my job after all.”

DeDe climbs the stairs and stands in front of the door mentioned. Before she can knock the word "enter" comes from within. DeDe opens the door, enters, and then closes the door. She then sits down at a chair that is way too big for her and looks at the chief. Bogo just shuffles some more papers, and finally looks at her. She feels like a predator is watching her.

“So, Mis Demitri, I see here that you were a captive for a time”. “Yes sir, but I’m not allowed to talk about it”.” Let me set you straight, as the chief of police, I have a level two security clearance, and I know about what happened to you. You are not allowed to tell anyone else that has a level 4 or lower, level 3 or above only. This rules out most of the precinct, but there are four other mammals you can tell. Both officers Reynolds and officers Wilde. But no one else in this precinct, is that understood”? “Yes Sir.” Bogo pushes down on the intercom, “officer Reynolds could you come to my office”? “On my way chief.” Bogo folds his hoofs and just stares at DeDe. “Officer Reynolds will explain your duties to you. And I expect you to be by the book, no hacks, we don’t work that way”. “Yes Sir, by the book.”

There is a knock at the door. “enter”. “You wanted to see me, sir”? DeDe’s paws fly to her mouth, and she sits there in shock. “Yes, your new T.O. is here”, “ah, good chief, we have been short-staffed since Matt transferred out”. She turns to look at the new officer. “DeDe”? “Kaylee!” The two bunnies wrap their arms around each other. “While I find this very heartwarming, GET OUT OF MY OFFICE, AND GET BACK TO WORK.” Both doe’s run out of the chief’s office and close the door. They then embrace in the hall.

“Oh God, Kaylee it's been a while”. “Yes, it has, where have you been DeDe”? “It’s kind of a long story”. “Well save it for later, you need to come down the rabbit hole.” DeDe gives her a strange look. Kaylee laughs, “I'm head of the T.O. department, and there are three bunnies and two wolves working in it. Some officers have taken to calling our department the "rabbit hole", and with one more bunny, I think the name will stick now”.

“This is your desk, and that bad apple over there is Rick, watch it with him, he thinks he’s a lady’s mammal. Randy is on nights this week, so you should meet him at the end of the day. Cedrick, Kyle, Barry, I’d like you to meet our new T.O. an old friend of mine DeDe.” They all say hi and putting their heads down, resume work.

“Are you that hard a slave driver”? “No DeDe I'm not, the boys just are really into their job. I have to shut off their internet just to get them to go home at night”.” Isn't it hard working with all the guys around you”? “You know, my husband asked the same thing, I’ll tell you what I told him. Kaylee raises her voice a little, if they ever come on to me, I will kick them hard in the ring, and jewels don’t count for much when they are flattened”.

“When did you get married, and is he a handsome buck”? “Ah, no, he’s not a buck, he’s a timber wolf, but yes, he is handsome”. “Wait, you married a timber wolf”? “Yes, he kind of sweep me off my feet and mauled me”.” I bet; does he have a brother”? “No, but he does have a sister who runs the company”. “He’s rich”? “Not anymore, but we are well off”. “All right DeDe, time for you to get the lay of the land.”

Later at lunch, DeDe and Kaylee are talking in the far corner of the cafeteria. “So, tell me DeDe, where have you been for the last 5 years”? “Well you know how I loved to hack; I found a computer that was just ripe for the picking. I got in and found some files that were a bit unusual. I didn't see the stringer that was attached to that file, and it alerted the owner that someone was reading the file. They caught up to me about 4 hours later, and kidnapped me”.

“Wow, what was in that file that they would kidnap you for”? “Well, it was a study of four fox-bunny hybrids”. “Stop right there, DeDe do you know what happened to these hybrids”? “Well, when we were rescued, I was driven away to Z.CIA training ground, I saw all eight of them standing there with tears in their eyes, as I was driven away”. “Wait, Eight? I thought you said four”? “Yes, there were four hybrids and four rabbits”.

“Stop right there DeDe, not another word, Nick and Judy need to hear this too”. “But Kaylee I’m not allowed to tell just anybody”. “Nick and Judy have the clearance to hear your story. They defiantly need to hear this”. Kaylee dials her phone. “Mavis, are Nick and Judy up yet? Hi Nick, listen can I bring pizza and a friend over tonight? Ok, thanks see you then.” She redials her phone. “Max honey, I need you to pick up pizza tonight. I'll be bringing a friend and we all will be going to Nick and Judy's. right make it one more vegetarian, about five-thirty. Thanks, hon, love yah”. “So, who are Nick and Judy”?” Just some friends of mine”. “Oh, would you look at the time, back to work slave. “Yes, boss, can I have an extra bowl of gruel tonight”? “Not unless your work picks up”. Both laugh as they head for the Rabbit Hole.

Kaylee and DeDe talk, laugh, and reminisce as they walk to the "House". They meet Max at the front entrance, max sweeps Kaylee off her paws, and plants one on her muzzle. “Later big boy, but not much later.” She kisses him again as he puts her down. “Max I would like you to meet DeDe,” his eyes get big and wide, but he can see the shushing motion that his wife is doing. “Hi, DeDe I'm Max”. “Good to meet you, Max. So, are Nick and Judy rich”? “No, they’re just everyday working joes”. “How can they afford this place”? “You’ll see.” Max turns back to the cruiser and pulls out all the pizzas. “Wow, are you feeding an army”? “Something like that responds Max.” They all go in.

“Mavis it’s Max and Kaylee and guest”. **“Guest step forward and place your paws on the scanner, state your full name, and look at the camera”.** “Wow, this is quite the security system. My name is Diane Demitri, but I go by DeDe”. **“Thank you, you all may proceed.”** Max looks over the Head of DeDe at his wife, she just gives him the motion for not now. Max shares some boxes with DeDe and Kaylee. “Uh guys, I can't see where I'm going”.” It’s ok just follow Max.” Kaylee opens the door and enters the house, with Max and DeDe following she enters the kitchen. “Wow, thanks guys, kits it’s Pizza delivery.” DeDe puts her pizza down and looks into a very familiar face. Her head whips around at the sound of approaching paw pads. Susan screams “DeDe” and we all run in and pile on her.

Max, Kaylee, Nick, Judy, and William, just sit down at the table and help themselves to pizza. Peter and Vivian come in a little later. “Mom, you guys finished rearranging your bedroom”? Peter chuckles and Vivian turns red. “Yes, dear, we’re done.” DeDe is still being mobbed on the floor, even Scott, Justin, and Elisabeth were mobbing her. After about 5 minutes we all allow DeDe to get up. We jump into our chairs and begin to devour the pizza. DeDe realizes that there is a few more than before. “Who are the new additions, guys”? Nick speaks up, “that little orange furball, is my brother Scott”. “Not cool bro, I'm not a furball”. We all laugh at his attitude. “The two by Judy are Elisabeth and Justin, our kits, and Daniels brother and sister. And the little fox over there is William Daniel’s older brother”.

“I seem to remember a file at the institute of two foxes born to a rabbit”. “That would have been William and Izzy”. “They thought they were defective so they got rid of them. How did you find them”? “Well, William we dug out of a hole in the ground”. William gives dad a dirty look, dad just smiles at him. “And Izzy we got from the orphanage she was at”. “So, where is Izzy”? It gets quiet, and DeDe can tell it’s a touchy subject. Nick clears his throat, “Izzy died shortly after we brought her home”. “Oh, guys, I’m so sorry”. “It’s ok DeDe, you didn’t know. It’s still a little bit raw, even after a year and a half”.

“So, DeDe how did you end up as part of the “Experiment”? “Well… you could say I hacked my way in”. “But let's go a little further back. Kaylee and I grew up in a bad neighborhood. We were the best of friends and we were both good at hacking. We played together, and we were called the Thompson twins, I still to this day don’t get the reference. Kaylee and I learned all we could about hacking and computers in general. I thought I was a hacker extraordinaire, but I found out later I was a little better than mediocre. One night I found this computer with little in the way of protection, so I hacked it and found some files about some fox and bunny hybrids.

I missed the stringer attached to the file, so they were alerted to the fact someone outside was reading the research. I found it fascinating and continued to read. I had just finished reading it when there came a knock at the door. When I answered it, I was bagged, tied up, and thrust into the trunk of a car. I was so scared I wet myself. I thought I was going to die. They drove for what seemed to be forever, and I was wondering where they were going to dump my body. When they stopped, they hauled me out of the trunk and carried me into a building.

They stripped me and tied me to a chair. They threw all kinds of questions at me and kept asking me who I worked for. After a few hours of this, I was given a choice, join the hybrids, or die. Not much of a choice. So, that's how I came into your lives. The nudity thing was hard to get used to at first, and I had a lot of leers from some of the guards, one guard cornered me, but after kicking his butt, management told them to leave me alone".

"You guys were so darn cute, that I think I fell in love with you all right away. Heather and I become good friends, though her conversations lacked a lot of words. Oh god, I remember your first birthday, it wasn’t much sugar, but boy did you guys get strung out on it. The night of the storm, when Heather disappeared with you Daniel, they blamed me and I was never allowed to leave that room again”.

“So that’s why we all slept in the one bed”, says Susan. “Eventually the guard that was posted in the room, left and was now posted outside the door. But the night Heather died was one of the worst nights, you were so inconsolable, it broke my heart. Shortly after that, you all expressed affection towards me, and I broke down crying. I had known for a while that you could communicate with each other in your minds, and how I envied your ability to do so. Daniel when you came back, my despair of ever getting out of there was like a stone in my heart. But when you had a plan, and the means to carry out this plan, hope blossomed in my heart again.

And then as they drove me away, I remember your words Daniel, you said to follow my heart. They took me to the Z.CIA training grounds and I became their newest recruit. I did nine months of training, but they found I didn't have the mindset to be a spy. They then put me in the technical department, and I found out how much I didn’t know about hacking. So, I learned and found after a time I didn’t like to hack for a living. Also, the head of the department was after me “to work under him”.

Jack was making one of his periodic visits to the training facility, and I managed to get him alone and told him I wanted to leave. He told me I could leave at any time, but what would I do with my life he asked? I told him I didn't know, and he suggested joining the ZPD police academy. I Didn't know about that, I told him. But my heart leapt in my chest at the idea, and if it got me away from the Z.CIA and the technical department head, I would do it. Jack put in a good word at the academy, and they accepted me in. The training was a little harder at the academy, but not by much, just a lot more book smarts. So here I am back in Zootopia”.

“Wow, DeDe that’s quite a story, do your parents Know you are back”. “Yes, Kaylee they do, but I didn't want anything to do with them. they are back using again”. “I’m so sorry DeDe, where are you living now”?” Down at the pagoda arms, it was all I could afford”. We all look at dad. Nick looks up, “all right guys I got the message, you can quit now. DeDe I have been informed by my children that if I don’t at least offer the use of one of the bedrooms, I might not wake up in the morning. But be warned if you do accept, we start our day at five AM, with an exercise routine, and sparing practice”.

“But won’t the owners of the building object to you bringing one more person into this apartment”? We all laugh at the question. “Oh god no, they were the ones insisting on it”. DeDe looks at Nick quizzically. Susan pipes up, “No, DeDe, the owners of the building want you to stay. The O’Hare’s are a very generous bunch”. “And who would these O’Hare’s be”? “Why that would be me, Cindy, Suzie, and Rick, we own the building”. “Now I’m even more confused”.

“Let’s just say that the institute was set up by our father’s brother, and we were supposed to be his control over our father. It didn’t work out that way for him”. “And you want me here”? “DeDe you were the only mother we knew for three years, why wouldn’t we want you here”? “Then if no one objects then I would like to stay”. Again, she is mobbed by all of us.

“Mavis executive order Nickolas P. Wilde omega 1600, DeDe is to have full access to the house”. **“Executive order is accepted, welcome to the house DeDe”.** “Guys, who is this Mavis”? Rick and Ava stand up, “that DeDe would be our house AI”.” You guys Created an AI? But computers are not far enough along for a true AI”. “Regular computers yes, but not our computer, would you like to see her”? WOULD I, lead the way”. Everyone heads out of the kitchen except for the adults.

“Well it’s been an interesting night; do you guys want to use the hot tub”? Max? “don’t mind if we do”. Max and Kaylee head down for the hot tub. The rest of us go for the pool. Vivian and Peter join them in the hot tub. Everyone returns from the computer room. “Where did they all go”? “They went to the hot tub”.

“Did You Pick a room DeDe”? “Yes, I'll take the one next to Peter and Vivian's room. Right, I can lend you a uniform in the morning if you like just so you don't have to leave tonight”. “That would be great, but I would like to try the hot tub, have you got a bathing suit I can use”? “Ah, DeDe we don’t use bathing suits, we are all family after all”. “Well, I can do that, after all, I spent three years without clothes”. We all head for the hot tub and pool.

“Nick, can we trust her”? “Well fluff I trust our children's judgment, and they trust her. We need to get ready for work love”. “Right Nick do we have time…”? Nick looks at the clock, “we have two and a half hours”, “plenty of time then, come along Mr. Wilde”, Judy leads him to their bedroom.

DeDe comes out of the shower and crawls into the hot tub. “God that feels so good”. “I’m sorry I sprung that on you DeDe, but I didn’t know if you were the same person the kits talked about. After what you said at lunch, I knew you were, but I still wanted to surprise you”. “It’s ok Kaylee I like surprises, God I never thought I would ever see them again”. “DeDe do you love them”? “Yes, Kaylee I do. They were my anchors and they stopped me from falling into despair”. “Then I’m glad you are all back together again”.

“Well, Max honey I think it's time for us to go”. Kaylee Stands up. “OH my god Kaylee, where did you get those scars”? “I told you, Max mauled me”. “I thought you meant another way”. “Oh, he did that later, but this happened in the records room, and max was under the influence of night howlers at the time. We were already in love, so it wasn’t hard to forgive what happened”. “Come along max there’s a private shower with our name on It”.

DeDe is left with Vivian and Peter. “I'm sorry I didn't get your names earlier”. “I’m Vivian Nick’s mother”, “and I’m Peter howler Vivian’s mate and husband and love”. “One of those would have done you know”. “Yes, but I like to say them all”. He leans over and kisses her. “God, I hope to have a love like that someday”. “You will my dear, you will”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One of my readers has informed me that DeDe is the Hindi word for big sister. I did not know this when I wrote her into the story.


	46. Testing

DeDe was surprised on how we were woken up in the morning, she missed the song and had burning ears, she was a little harder to wake up. When she got to the DOJO, she was surprised to see both Susan and I leading the class. Those with tails followed me and those without tails followed Susan. DeDe had good form, but Susan helped straighten out the rough edges. She was so exhausted by the end of our routine; she went to the hot tub. And watched us all frolicking in the pool, she had a big smile on her face. Mom, dad, and DeDe headed to the precinct, we got hugs and kisses from all three. Peter was mobbed by Elisabeth, Justin, and Scott, he left laughing as he headed out the door. Elisabeth, Justin, and Scott stayed with Miss Watts, and the rest of us headed for the DOJO.

As we came in the DOJO, we could feel something was off, Mr. Delaront came over too us. "Susan, Daniel the masters would like a word with you." We go over and sit down. Mr. Delaront speaks first. "Guys we have a small problem, other DOJO's feel we were wrong to promote you to masters. Normally we get one new master every decade or so, but we have promoted two in the last two years.” He lets out a big sigh, “we have been asked to prove that you deserve the promotion. We will be holding the master's tournament here in a month, would you be willing to fight in this tournament"? I look at Susan and we both agree. “Yes, we would be willing to fight". "Good, but you will have to learn to fight together, can you do this"?

"Sir, we have a link to each other, we believe we can do this”. “Link what is this link”? “Mr. Spyromen, Susan, and I have a bond with each other, that is we know what each other feels and sees”. “I don’t believe this; we are basing our reputation on whimsy”? “Sir I can prove we have a bond”. “How would you do this”? “Sir, separate us and test us, we can see and feel what the other one sees and feels”. “What, a cheap magic trick”? “No sir, you can choose any kind of test, so long as one of us can see or feel the test”. “All right we will think about this, go train your family”. We go train our family members and help some of the newest members as well.

After a while, we are called over. Eight boxes are laid out in front of us. Mr. Spyromen lays out the terms of their test. “One of you will tell us what is in the boxes, and the other one will find out what is in the boxes. No touching of the boxes”. I look at Susan and we agree, Susan follows Mr. Spyromen to the other side of the room. I stand there looking at the boxes. I hear from across the room “begin”. I grab some power from the meadow and separate myself from my body. There is a gasp from the masters watching me. I go to the first box and look in. It’s a ring I tell Susan. She speaks out the object. I move to the second, it’s a knife I tell her. She repeats that it is a knife. We go through all eight boxes without a hitch. I re-enter my body and release my power. Mr. Delaront looks at me with new respect. “Daniel that was amazing, how long have you been able to do that”? “Just over two years sir”. Susan and Mr. Spyromen walk back over. “So, Carl are you convinced”? “Yes, If I had not seen it, I would not believe it”. “Can you teach us how to do that, Daniel”? “Yes, sir I can Sir”. We spend the rest of the day in the center of a circle of masters.

We practice hard, at home, and the DOJO. No spectators are allowed in the master's tournament, so the rest of the family stays home. We are welcomed into the DOJO. There are a few more masters in the room and we are getting looks of disbelief. There is a panel of older masters, who are the judges. We separate into four groups, and a gong is sounded. The judges decide who fights whom. Our single matches were draws, but our doubles match we won. Our final match was against three opponents. We waited until they were on the mats before we pulled our last trick, we put blindfolds on ourselves. There were gasps of disbelief from around the room, but it was too late to change a thing as the gong was sounded. We fought them all, they did get some hits on us, but we got some hits on them as well. The gong sounded for the end of the match, but one master refused to leave us on the mat. Susan and I decided to try what we had practiced. We practiced making a small shield, but what we were going to attempt was much bigger. We went back to back and putting our arm thought each other's arms, locked our elbows. We pulled in as much power as we could hold, and threw a dome of power over us. Susan used negative power which rotates in a clockwise direction, and I used positive power which rotates in a counter-clockwise direction. We then stopped the power from rotating. When the master hit the shield we had created, the power threw him backward three feet. Both of us fainted at this point, but as we had locked our elbows, we fell to our knees, but stayed upright, our heads falling to our chests.

We found ourselves in the meadow with an angry Gab in front of us. “You fools, do you know what you have done”? We cower before him, we had never seen him mad or angry before. “Here eat this”, he thrust a strange fruit in front of us. We do as he bids and eat the fruit. As we eat it his anger abates. “I’m sorry guys, but you scared me”. “Why Gab”? “Do you know how close you came to killing yourselves”? “No Gab we don’t”. “If that power backlash had not gone to your opponent, it would have eaten both of you”. “Did we kill him”? “No, most of the power went to throw him away. But guys in the future please, please talk to me before you try something like that again”. “We will Gab, and we’re sorry”. “I know you are, now time to go back”.

We come too, still on our knees on the center of the mat. We unlock our arms and fall flat on our faces. We untie our blindfolds and are helped to our paws when the clapping begins. We look around and all the masters are clapping, even the poor fellow we threw with our power shield. Our black belts are removed from our karateka's and a white one is tied around us.

We are then left to stand in the middle of the mat as all the masters turn their backs on us and continue to clap. We are exhausted and just sit down in the middle of the mat. Mr. Delaront comes over, “guys what a spectacular way to prove that you are masters”. “What’s with the white belt”? “Guys it denotes that you are master power users. No one in a thousand years has ever climbed as high as you two. Can you show us how you did it”? “I’m sorry sir, we can’t. we don’t know what we did, and we feel it almost killed us doing it”. “I can believe this, as you two were not breathing for about thirty seconds. Again, well done”.

We rest for a few, and when we could get up, we were brought before the judges. All the judges have smiles on their faces as they presented us with the master’s plaque. One grizzly old mammal looked at us and asked what we were going to do for next year's tournament. We shrugged and said we hadn't thought that far ahead. He laughed and shooed us away. We circulated through the room shaking the paws of all the masters. We are allowed to leave after a meal was presented and eaten.

As we come into the house, we are mobbed by our siblings. They had been watching us through the link. But there was an air of concern, they did not see the power surge that blocked our link with them or the aftermath. We were then asked how we placed, in answer, we held up our plaque.

When mom, dad, and DeDe came in that night, they saw the plaque hanging in the hallway. “Wow guys, you won”? “Yes dad, Susan and I did win”. “You don’t do things by half measures do you two”? “Well dad, what we did today almost killed us, we won’t be doing that again any time soon”. “I can believe it"; says, dad. Mom hugs us with tears in her eyes. “I’m so proud of you two”. DeDe then takes her turn hugging us.

Vivian and Peter decide to have a honeymoon in the Hawaiian Islands they leave the last week of August. Scott cried when he found out that he was not going. But we explained to him, it was an adult only kind of week. They promised they would bring him back something. He accepted that and was better about it. He cried when they left, saying that he would miss them. Mom and dad drove them to the airport and hugged them before they went through security. Dad let mom drive the car on the way back, as dad wanted to hang his head over the windshield. Judy just laughed as his lips flapped in the wind. She almost got into an accident laughing so hard, when dad got a bug stuck up his nose. For the rest of the trip, dad kept his head inside the car. Mom snickered all the way home.


	47. The Accident

WARNING MATURE CONTENT!

We got the call Saturday, that they would be returning Sunday at 10 AM. Dad made us draw straws, as we all wanted to go to pick them up. Susan and I won the straw draw. Dad has the top down as we drive to the airport. It’s a little chilly but the sun makes up for it, and the fact there is hardly any traffic this early in the morning.

> Andrew had a wonderful weekend, he bedded a few girls at the bush party, he’d done quite a lot of drugs and had downed at least a keg of beer. He was on his way to work. He needed this job, but he would have preferred to stay with that nice kitty cat. Man, was she hot! He was in a bit of a hurry, so he was breaking the speed limit, but not by much. He snorted in to try to clear his nose. This was when the last hit of fentanyl-laced cocaine dropped. His body went into convulsions, his paw matted the gas pedal, and he passed out. He was driving by the airport entrance when this happened. People in the airport could see his fancy bush buggy picking up speed as it was going down the road. It had a solid steel winch bumper connected to a skid plate under the truck. As his truck picked up speed it began to swerve back and forth. It hit the barrier on the right doing about 60 miles an hour. It shot across two lanes of traffic at about a 30-degree angle and went down into the median. It flew out of the median straight into oncoming traffic. Nick had no chance to get out of the truck's way. The truck plowed into the side of Peter's big old boat of a car. They were pushed sideways into the cement pillar the light standard was on. The pillar cut the car in half right behind the front bench seat, and in front of the back seat. The back half of the car was then spun 180 degrees and was facing traffic. The truck then continued down the embankment and into the river.

Nick just had a moment when he saw the truck come out of the median. It plowed into the car breaking his left arm and both of his legs. He got a concussion when his head hit the bumper of the truck. Judy fared a little better, as her right arm was broken along with her right leg, and a blood vessel in her right eye burst when her head hit the door. She also received a concussion at this time. The front half of the car came to rest at a 130-degree angle to the line of travel. Susan came out the best she had bumps and bruises, Daniel had a broken jaw and muzzle, but they were both ok.

> Evelin had been driving this road for years now, she was heading for the airport where she had a day job. She was texting on her phone when it fell out of her paw and landed on the floor. "Scat," she said as she looked down to try and find it. Her car started to drift to the right. She looked up at the sound of the crash. She nailed the brakes but it was too late. She saw the back half of a car facing her, with two kits strapped to the back seat. She prayed that her car would stop in time. She froze and didn’t try to turn the wheel. She plowed into the back half of the car right into the back seat.

Peter and Vivian had been standing out in front of the airport waiting for their ride. They saw the whole accident happen but didn't know it was his car. “Vivian call 911 I’m going to help the victims”. “Right love”. Peter got down on all fours and started to run.

"911 what's your emergency"?

"Yes, there's been an accident in front of the airport, a car was cut in half by a pickup".

"Can you see any victims"?

"Yes, there appear to be two mammals in the car and at least one in the pickup".

"Is there fire"?

"No, no fire".

"Dispatching emergency crews now".

"My husband has gone to see if he could help, he's an MD".

Peter, as he runs, hopes that it is not a fatality. As he gets closer, he can see it’s his car. “No, NO, Oh GOD NO”. Peter reaches the car and can see that Nick and Judy are badly hurt, he reaches in and shuts the motor off. He takes the keys and heads for the trunk of his car. When he gets to the back half of his car, he can see the car planted in the back seat, and a female cheetah screaming hysterically. He grabs her to try and calm her down. But she just keeps repeating "the Kits". He then notices the blood on the back seat. Peter jams his key in the trunk lid and tries to open it. The lid pops a bit but does not go up. Peter grabs the lid and forces it up enough to get his medical kit out of the trunk. He then screams at the female to back her car up. She snaps out of her hysterics just long enough to do as he asked.

Peter gets around to the back seat to see Susan and Daniel have had their heads crushed into the seatback. Daniel's muzzle and Jaw are broken, and Susan's head is a bit misshapen, but they are both still breathing. Peter inserts an endotracheal tube into Daniel to help him breathe and tapes his jaw and muzzle to the tube to keep it immobile. He finds no other injuries on them; the bumper was high enough to just hit their heads. He hears the sound of sirens, and breaths a little easier. He calls Vivian.

“Love, I’ll be going to the hospital with two of the victims, Vivian it’s Nick and Judy, Daniel and Susan”. Vivian just held the phone to her ear in a state of shock. “Love, they are all alive but pretty messed up. I've got Daniel and Susan, please make your way home, there's nothing you can do for at least three hours, go home love I've got them”. “Ok, Peter if you're sure”. “Yes, love I’m sure”.

We are having the time of our lives in the back seat. The wind blowing, and good tunes on the radio. When the truck comes out of nowhere. It slams into the side of the car and pushes us sideways. As the truck goes through the car, I can feel my muzzle break on the bumper as it goes by. We have been spun around and are looking at traffic coming at us. We can see the car not slowing down, we hear the brakes come on but we know it's too late. I look at Susan, “love you”, was all I had time for before the bumper put out my lights.

Two ambulances show up, and head for the front half of the car. “You back here”. One of the crews come to the back half of the car. They see the two kits and can tell it’s a lost cause. But Peter Reading them right takes charge. “You get that gurney over here, you put that backboard away, they don't need it”. They gently lift them and place them on the gurney, and straps them down. Peter tries to enter the ambulance, “sir you can’t ride with us”. “Like hell, I can't there my grand kits. Move we need to get them to Mercy General”.

“Sir that’s ten minutes further than the closest hospital”. “I don’t care just do it”. “Sir…” “Look I’m head of pediatrics at Mercy General JUST go”. They both start to have trouble breathing. An endotracheal tube is inserted into Susan and both are now being bagged. As soon as their stable he calls the house. “Mavis put me on speakerphone. Mis Watts you there”? “Yes Peter, I’m here”. “Good, there’s been an accident, I need you to get the kits to the hospital, family members have been badly hurt, and I need the kits for blood for Daniel and Susan. We are 17 minutes out from Mercy General please get there and tell the nurse you are there to give blood for an accident victim”. Peter can hear the shouts of dismay coming from the house, “look guys I know this is a lot to take in, but Daniel and Susan need your help”. At this point Daniel and Susan flat line. Everyone in the house can hear this. “Got to go everyone, get to the hospital as soon as you can”.

“Give me the defib”, “Sir, let them go”. “NO, I will not, defib now”. “Sir we can’t separate their paws”, “then don’t, give me the saline solution now”. They hand him the saline; Peter soaks a towel in saline and wraps it around their paws. “Defib 100, clear”, Peter put the paddles one on Daniel's chest and one on Susan's chest. And zaps them. No response, “200 clear”. They both convulse but still are flatlining. “Adrenaline now”, he is handed the syringe Peter plunges it into Daniel’s heart and gives him half. He plunges it into Susan’s heart and gives her the other half. “Clear”, he shocks them again, “nothing sir”. “300 clear”, they convulse again, no response. “Again”. “Sir, just let them go”. “NO, again”, they convulse again, but this time there is a faint heartbeat.

They arrive at the hospital and are rushed into the emergency ward. Peter finds that the blood draws from the kits is going well, he takes the first bag to Daniel and hooks it up, the second bag he hooks up to Susan their heartbeats become a little stronger. They are stabilized and rushed into surgery. It's a long and arduous surgery for both Daniel and Susan. Both have shunts put into their heads, to drain off any fluid build-up. Daniel has the bleeders in his muzzle cauterized, and his bottom jaw wired together. They have bone setter/stabilizers attached to their heads. Susans is holding the side of her face in place. Daniels goes around his head and holds the pieces of his muzzle and jaw in place. Susan’s rig looks like a stainless-steel halo, and Daniel's rig looks like a muzzle. They are placed on ventilators and put into medical induced comas.

We wake up in the meadow with mom and dad, Gab comes over with a sad look on his face. “I’m sorry about your accident guys. But only two of you can go back, the other two must pass on”. Mom and dad hug us, “I guess this is goodbye Daniel, Susan”. “Yes, dad it is”. we all walk over to the veil. “Remember us”? “We will dad, mom”. Susan and I look at each other and we both nod yes. “DAD, MOM, FREEZE”. “Daniel what are you doing”? “DAD LINK YOUR LEFT PAW TO MOM” S RIGHT PAW”. Susan and I take their other paws. “Guys, what are you doing”? “Dad, Susan, and I know how messed up we are compared to you two, and the family needs you more”. With that, we start to feed them power. “Guys please don’t do this”. “Dad mom remember us, we love you”. “Please guys, don’t do this. We need you too”. “Sorry dad, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. We love you guys, take our final gift, and love our family”. Nick and Judy both have tears in their eyes. “We will our son, and Susan our daughter”. Nick and Judy slowly fade away. As the last of our power is given to them, they fade out completely. Gab comes over with a sad look in his eyes. “Why did you do that you two”? “We did that Gab because the family needs them more”. “But your family needs you too”. “We know Gab, but we know our gift will be put to good use to help others, mammals we don’t even know. And what’s done in love, can’t be bad can it”? “Very noble of you guys, come here”. We go over and Gab is crying but he wraps us up in a hug. “I wish we could have had more time together, but I’m proud and honored to have known you. Go you two, the veil awaits”. “Thanks, Gab, for being our friend”. We step back, and paw-in-paw step through the veil. Gab wipes his tears, and plastering a grin on his muzzle walks into the meadow.

Nick and Judy are transferred to Mercy General a few days later. They are both wheeled in to see Daniel and Susan several times a day, they stay for a bit, and later, crying, leave the room. Most of the family is in the hospital. DeDe comes in to see them as often as she can, but she can barely hold it together. The kits talk to them as often as they can, but there is no response, not even white noise.

Peter come in a few weeks later to give them the bad news. “Guys”, he has tears in his eyes and he starts again. “Guys, Daniel and Susan are gone. They don't have enough brain activity to breathe on their own. The ventilator is the only thing keeping them alive”. Nick and Judy have tears in their eyes, “we know Peter, they gave us all the energy they had, just so we would survive”. “I would like your permission to shut the ventilator off”. “Not yet Peter we want the whole family there when we do”.

“Also have you thought about organ donation”? “Yes, we have Peter, but we won’t sign anything tell they are gone”. “When would you like to do this”? “Saturday would that be ok”? “Yes, it would, I’ll inform everyone”. “Thanks, Peter”. After Peter leaves, “Nick I know I will break down before I say everything I want to say, will you speak for us”? “Yes, Judy my love I will, but I might break down too”.

Saturday rolls around, and it’s a very somber bunch in the operating room. Biggest room to allow that many people. Most are in the observation gallery. The medical transplant teams wait just off the operating room out of sight. Mr. Delaront, Clawhauser, Chief Bogo, Fangmyer, Mis Watts, Jack, Skye, and the whole family is present. Nick and Judy are carried to the head of the bed.

“Daniel our son, Susan our daughter, we love you both. We thank you for the gift you gave us, we don’t know what we did to deserve it, but we are going to live the rest of our lives trying to live by your example of selfless sacrifice. Go in peace our son and daughter”. Peter lifts Nick high enough to kiss Daniel and Susan on the top of their heads. Vivian lifts Judy to do the same. They are then set down into the wheelchair provided for them. the immediate family gathers at the foot of the bed. Peter and Victor one of the other doctors, go up to the head of the bed. They disconnect the ventilators and shut them down. They then pull the trachea tubes out of them. We all watch the oxygen saturation monitors fall. 90%....80%......70% …. 60% Their hearts start to speed up. 50%....40%...30%....20%.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who took the time to drop me some feed back, I do appreciate it. Sorry for spelling errors, but some of the words we spell different in Canada. This is the last part of the story for now. I will continue this story, but it will be under a new title. I'm working on it but I won't start posting it till the beginning of next month (April/20). Again thanks for the feed back good and bad.


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